Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc Has $226.11 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 923,509 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 21,869 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.6% of Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $226,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.25.

Apple Trading Down 3.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $7.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $205.35. 100,891,435 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,771,720. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $212.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

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.