Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,086,189 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 16,151 shares during the period. Apple makes up 6.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Apple were worth $228,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Apple by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after buying an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,061,296,000 after buying an additional 485,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Apple by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,214,222,000 after buying an additional 2,359,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 417,924 shares of company stock worth $94,142,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $222.72 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $226.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.51. The company has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.63, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.