Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 1.6% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price shot up 1.6% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $277.00 and last traded at $275.92. 62,494,335 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average session volume of 55,622,629 shares. The stock had previously closed at $271.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Melius Research set a $345.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $260.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its position in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.