Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Sells 418,293 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 92.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,862 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 418,293 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.7% of Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Apple were worth $7,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $208.37 on Friday. The firm's fifty day moving average is $216.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.42. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.07, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $168.15 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.88.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last three months. Company 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.