Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 26,986 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,059,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 26,986 shares during the period. Apple makes up 7.3% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings, making the stock its largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Apple were worth $246,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Maxim Group increased their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.14.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $223.66 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $241.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

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.