Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $261.64 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,044,811 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 14,392 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 7.7% of Kentucky Retirement Systems' portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems' holdings in Apple were worth $261,642,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Waterfront Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Waterfront Wealth Inc. now owns 49,709 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,448,000 after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the period. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Trinity Legacy Partners LLC now owns 43,843 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,979,000 after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Financial Harvest LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $2,542,000. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 9,959 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cromwell Holdings LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 40,934 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,251,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $232.63.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.50. The stock had a trading volume of 50,495,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,594,610. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.06. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.11 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.