Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) traded up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $206.66 and last traded at $205.74. 10,372,360 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 56,637,128 shares. The stock had previously closed at $204.60.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Raymond James upped their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.88.
View Our Latest Analysis on Apple
Apple Stock Up 1.0 %
The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $217.14 and a 200-day moving average of $229.52.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders 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 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple
Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 136.0% during the first quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,866 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,081,000 after purchasing an additional 2,804 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Apple by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,932,129 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,539,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741,143 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,616 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,025,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. ZynergyRetirementPlanningLLC increased its holdings in Apple by 12.9% in the 1st quarter. ZynergyRetirementPlanningLLC now owns 5,346 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,188,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its holdings in Apple by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 1,936,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $430,157,000 after acquiring an additional 272,966 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Apple
(
Get Free Report)
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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