Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.8% – What’s Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $225.71 and last traded at $227.08. 10,694,452 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 58,195,270 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $217.81.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given 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 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Capstone Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capstone Capital LLC now owns 3,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,328 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,289,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,743,000. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,370,000. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 121,033 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,041,000 after buying an additional 2,033 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.