Gemmer Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gemmer Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 20.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,013 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.2% of Gemmer Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Gemmer Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Trinity Financial Advisors LLC now owns 29,427 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,198,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the period. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,003,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 31,487 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,632,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 156,985 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,074,000 after purchasing an additional 5,759 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $255.59 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $237.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $227.79. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Moffett Nathanson cut their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.47.

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.