Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price shot up 1.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $228.18 and last traded at $228.03. 7,986,869 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 58,445,543 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $227.04 and its 200-day moving average is $216.61.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.