Focus Financial Network Inc. Sells 6,730 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Focus Financial Network Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 387,717 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,730 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.5% of Focus Financial Network Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Focus Financial Network Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $86,124,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded down $2.54 during trading on Monday, reaching $208.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,653,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,464,684. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.83. The company has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.27.

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.