Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $237.62. The company had a trading volume of 46,368,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,284,332. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock's 50 day moving average is $241.37 and its 200-day moving average is $230.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $253.00 price target (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $238.05.

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.

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