Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,340 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 570 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 6.6% of Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the first quarter. American Trust now owns 64,746 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 197,961 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,946,000 after buying an additional 4,798 shares in the last quarter. Bush Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at $1,002,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $7,798,000. Finally, SRN Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.4% in the first quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 4,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

AAPL stock opened at $254.49 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $255.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $234.97 and its 200 day moving average is $225.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid 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 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio 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.