Short Interest in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Drops By 6.3%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 101,910,000 shares, a decrease of 6.3% from the March 31st total of 108,780,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 60,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its holdings in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $170.33 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $172.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.71. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.62.

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.