California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 1,984,053 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 36,643,039 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,984,053 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.8% of California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,518,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Baker Boyer National Bank raised its position in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Red Tortoise LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Shariaportfolio Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sharpepoint LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Argus set a $325.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays increased their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.3%

AAPL stock opened at $278.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $267.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.19. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $288.62. The company has a market cap of $4.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

Apple Profile

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.