Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $237.59, but opened at $247.19. Apple shares last traded at $242.12, with a volume of 14,807,085 shares traded.

The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the second quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,574 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,809,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 157.1% in the 2nd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 47,854 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,079,000 after buying an additional 29,239 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Apple by 60.5% in the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 205,466 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $43,275,000 after acquiring an additional 77,466 shares during the last quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 40,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,533,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,786,956 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,008,229,000 after purchasing an additional 284,217 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $241.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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.