Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.8% on Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.8% during trading on Monday after Raymond James raised their price target on the stock to $250.00. Raymond James currently has a buy rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $232.29 and last traded at $229.98. 68,239,505 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 65% from the average session volume of 41,481,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.26.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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. Evercore ISI reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Apple by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 6,202,902 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,306,455,000 after acquiring an additional 48,719 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the second quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 124,883 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,303,000 after acquiring an additional 3,727 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.6% during the second quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 28,773 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Finally, Geneva Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2,181.9% in the second quarter. Geneva Partners LLC now owns 63,826 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,443,000 after purchasing an additional 61,029 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $241.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple's payout ratio is 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.