Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Sells 4,598 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 238,701 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,598 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.2% of Pittenger & Anderson Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $59,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in Apple by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $787,631,000 after purchasing an additional 588,427 shares in the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 9.8% during the third quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,156 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,395,000 after buying an additional 2,065 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.2% during the third quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 64,470 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $14,622,000 after buying an additional 1,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudock Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hudock Inc. now owns 35,382 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,244,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.4 %

Apple stock opened at $204.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $217.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.52. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $166.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America reduced their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.17.

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.

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