Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $242.08 and last traded at $242.84. Approximately 36,870,619 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 41,328,356 shares. The stock had previously closed at $243.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson reduced their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $230.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $222.26. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% 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.