Quent Capital LLC Purchases 8,483 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 137,845 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 8,483 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.3% of Quent Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Quent Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $32,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $229.85. 4,135,982 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 58,095,512. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $227.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.47.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Company 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.