Quantum Financial Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Quantum Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.3% of Quantum Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson reduced their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.25.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $229.00 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $227.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.