Focus Financial Network Inc. Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Focus Financial Network Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 403,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,897 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.8% of Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $92,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its holdings in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $85,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $222.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $200.19. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share 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 net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given 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 yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. KeyCorp reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Cfra boosted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.17.

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.