Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Short Interest Down 5.6% in October

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 133,040,000 shares, a decrease of 5.6% from the October 15th total of 140,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 47,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $228.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $227.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.31. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

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.