Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Forefront Wealth Management Inc.

Key Points

• Forefront Wealth Management Inc. has reduced its position in Apple Inc. by 12.1%, owning 27,464 shares after selling 3,772 shares in Q2.
• Apple's quarterly earnings surpassed analyst expectations, reporting $1.57 EPS on revenue of $94.04 billion, showing a 9.6% increase year-over-year.
• Recent analyst ratings reflect a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with several price targets set, the highest being $290.00.

Forefront Wealth Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,464 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,772 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.5% of Forefront Wealth Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Forefront Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $5,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 28.3% during the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust boosted its position in Apple by 2.4% during the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 209.2% during the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Seaport Res Ptn raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $248.29.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $249.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.84, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $216.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.

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