Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.1%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares rose 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $168.64 and last traded at $168.13. Approximately 12,106,059 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 60,703,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler Companies downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.34.

Apple Trading Down 1.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $174.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 16,252.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 6,949,659 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.