Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 1.1% - Should You Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $233.22 and last traded at $233.04. 10,596,940 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 59,494,387 shares. The stock had previously closed at $230.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Cfra boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Raymond James upped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays restated an "underweight" rating and issued a $186.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Apple Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. 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 fifty day moving average of $226.75 and a 200-day moving average of $209.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 9.1% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 460,167 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $107,219,000 after purchasing an additional 38,467 shares in the last quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 13,984,461 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,258,379,000 after acquiring an additional 93,282 shares in the last quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $6,424,000. Golden State Equity Partners raised its holdings in Apple by 2.4% during the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 116,184 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $27,071,000 after acquiring an additional 2,751 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,989,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.