Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Reduced by Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,920,057 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 44,712 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.9% of Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Apple were worth $521,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $17,472,482,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 20,464.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to be viewed as one of the best long-term large-cap tech names, with reports highlighting strong iPhone demand, its massive installed base, and the potential for Services to drive the next leg of earnings growth. Apple Services story
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive: Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating and raised its price target, while other commentary says Apple can keep compounding earnings and free cash flow as it expands AI features and devices. Analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Apple executives saying the company is still in the “early innings” of spatial computing is reinforcing the view that new product categories could support future growth beyond the iPhone. Spatial computing article
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s legal fight with Epic Games remains a drag on sentiment, as the company asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a contempt order tied to App Store fees. Epic lawsuit article
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts are becoming more cautious on valuation after Apple’s run to new highs, warning the stock may be due for profit-taking. KeyBanc caution article

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. UBS Group set a $296.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Apple from $320.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $308.82 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $193.46 and a twelve month high of $311.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $269.64 and its 200 day moving average is $268.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.06%.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.