Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 1.3% Higher

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price shot up 1.3% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $225.44 and last traded at $224.35. 22,419,153 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 64,569,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $221.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average is $196.30 and its 200 day moving average is $186.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after buying an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 132.8% in the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after acquiring an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.