Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw a significant decrease in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 101,910,000 shares, a decrease of 6.3% from the March 31st total of 108,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 60,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.7 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.62.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in Apple by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after acquiring an additional 20,737 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $170.33 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

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.