Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $265.00 to $260.00. The stock had previously closed at $229.98, but opened at $224.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple shares last traded at $221.45, with a volume of 16,863,271 shares.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Maxim Group boosted their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $238.02.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 3.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $241.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.