Focus Financial Network Inc. Sells 2,372 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Focus Financial Network Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 400,806 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,372 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.8% of Focus Financial Network Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $93,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 202,881 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $47,271,000 after purchasing an additional 21,439 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its stake in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 810,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $188,916,000 after buying an additional 13,003 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the third quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 20,033 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,668,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 28,082 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,543,000 after acquiring an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Ridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 482,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $112,402,000 after acquiring an additional 33,187 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Moffett Nathanson lowered their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $243.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $238.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.58.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.