Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.1%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares rose 0.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $168.64 and last traded at $168.13. Approximately 12,106,059 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 60,703,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

Apple Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a market cap of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $175.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current 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 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 116,483.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after acquiring an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 291,538,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,396,763,000 after acquiring an additional 6,367,053 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 234,017,381 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $38,589,468,000 after acquiring an additional 7,736,013 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after acquiring an additional 25,926,552 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.