Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Sets New 1-Year High at $221.23

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $221.23 and last traded at $221.10, with a volume of 6664630 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $220.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Melius Research raised their target price on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $195.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value 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. Insiders have sold a total of 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 23,076.4% in the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.