Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Quent Capital LLC

Quent Capital LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 124,118 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,507 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.2% of Quent Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 116,483.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after acquiring an additional 569,066,184 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 291,538,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,396,763,000 after acquiring an additional 6,367,053 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Apple by 3.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 234,017,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $38,589,468,000 after acquiring an additional 7,736,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Apple by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after acquiring an additional 25,926,552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $169.38 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.80 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $176.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.08.

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.