Fluent Financial LLC Has $843,000 Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fluent Financial LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 51.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,002 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,287 shares during the period. Fluent Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $208,000. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $214,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.48 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $226.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $208.86. The firm has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.78, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

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.