Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Lifted by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,080,886 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 556,375 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 5.1% of Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Apple were worth $950,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Apple by 22,870.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after buying an additional 5,566,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

AAPL opened at $232.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.