Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.8% After Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price dropped 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday after StockNews.com downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $220.85 and last traded at $224.10. Approximately 20,710,104 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 59,192,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.91.

AAPL has been the subject of several other reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Retirement Solution LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 165.3% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Solution LLC now owns 32,845 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,467 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in Apple by 8.5% during the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 7,939 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,850,000 after purchasing an additional 620 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,652 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 21.8% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 28,062 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,538,000 after purchasing an additional 5,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 17 Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,980,000 after buying an additional 810 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $227.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.22%.

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.