Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 1.2% - Should You Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) shares traded up 1.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $197.20 and last traded at $196.68. 15,858,723 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 56,653,860 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.85.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

The business's fifty day moving average price is $219.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd 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. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.