Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 0.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $227.34 and last traded at $228.75. 6,269,650 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 60,428,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $205.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% 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.