Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 1%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price was up 1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $219.23 and last traded at $218.85. Approximately 16,423,803 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 64,809,141 shares. The stock had previously closed at $216.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Wedbush upped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $194.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.60.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 0.45%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 949,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $162,621,000 after purchasing an additional 57,418 shares in the last quarter. Keystone Financial Services grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Keystone Financial Services now owns 3,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 455 shares in the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 169,493 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,019,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 1,158,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $198,307,000 after acquiring an additional 7,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 2.8% in the third quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,773 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,611,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently 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.