Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 1.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $232.29 and last traded at $231.11. Approximately 28,830,956 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 46,130,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Apple Stock Up 0.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $240.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rolek Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $671,000. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Evolution Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 35,089 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,791,000 after purchasing an additional 3,998 shares during the last quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Marino Stram & Associates LLC now owns 44,158 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,058,000 after buying an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. LifeGuide Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. LifeGuide Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $728,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 25,380 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,356,000 after buying an additional 2,018 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% 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.