Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Hits New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $237.49 and last traded at $236.25, with a volume of 18221660 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cfra boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.27.

Apple Stock Up 1.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $224.06 and a 200 day moving average of $206.60. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the second quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company's stock.

About Apple

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.