Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 1.9% - Here's What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) shot up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $237.49 and last traded at $235.64. 23,662,459 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 60,268,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.30.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. New Street Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $186.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.27.

Apple Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $224.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $207.04.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory lifted its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Core Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $625,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% 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.