Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 450,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 14,756 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 7.3% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Apple were worth $104,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

AAPL stock opened at $223.66 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $241.07 and its 200 day moving average is $230.77. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.