Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,065 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,065 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.5% of Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory raised its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Core Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its position in Apple by 1.1% in the second quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $231.41 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.