Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 1% - Here's What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s share price was down 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $231.06 and last traded at $231.28. Approximately 11,431,585 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 59,174,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $233.67.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Barclays reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $186.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.91.

Apple Stock Down 1.2 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.46. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.97, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value 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 $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. 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 valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory grew its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 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.

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