Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Reaches New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $281.06 and last traded at $281.0880, with a volume of 18145493 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $278.85.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Argus set a $325.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. CLSA upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Melius increased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.53.

Apple Trading Down 0.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $264.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC raised 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 5,808 shares during the period. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.