Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.1% Higher – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price rose 0.1% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $253.71 and last traded at $253.62. Approximately 8,267,547 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 57,094,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $253.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $224.73.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Financial Advisory grew its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is 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.