Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Gap Down to $222.50

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $222.50, but opened at $216.54. Apple shares last traded at $215.87, with a volume of 14,038,723 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Piper Sandler Companies restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.17.

Apple Stock Down 3.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $223.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.75.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory boosted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Core Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 51 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.