Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $243.71 and last traded at $242.70. 37,560,095 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 43,806,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $242.21.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Apple Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.