Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 5.5% - Time to Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) traded down 5.5% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $226.56 and last traded at $225.87. 19,891,353 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 53,126,071 shares. The stock had previously closed at $239.07.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $243.88.

Apple Stock Down 3.7 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $237.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $234.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in 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 period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 23,555.4% in 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 acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% 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.