Apple Inc. $AAPL is Quent Capital LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Quent Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 149,573 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,443 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.0% of Quent Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $30,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $262.82 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $244.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.51. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $265.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. CLSA upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.47.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.