Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.4%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $228.24 and last traded at $228.08. 10,629,581 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 61,788,449 shares. The stock had previously closed at $227.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Cfra boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, July 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.30.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $220.80 and its 200 day moving average is $195.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% during 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 buying an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.