Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.2% – What’s Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $250.39 and last traded at $250.18. Approximately 23,543,517 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average daily volume of 57,166,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $249.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 1.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $234.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

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.