Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.4% Higher – What’s Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was up 0.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $200.54 and last traded at $198.32. Approximately 11,848,602 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 55,950,069 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. Raymond James reduced their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $208.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.