Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 2%

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shot up 2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $223.82 and last traded at $223.19. 13,239,985 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 63,040,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Apple from $216.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.97.

Apple Stock Up 1.5 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $211.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Brown Financial Advisory raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its position in Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,003,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the second quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,508 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.