Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0% After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded up 0% during trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock to $275.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has a buy rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $247.79 and last traded at $246.80. 7,815,164 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 57,475,996 shares. The stock had previously closed at $246.75.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL grew its position in Apple by 23.6% during the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 24,462 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,700,000 after buying an additional 4,675 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 54,499 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,698,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132 shares during the period. Copley Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $746,000. Dantai Capital Ltd boosted its position in Apple by 12.9% during the third quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 45,715 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 5,215 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $31,508,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $230.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $222.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.75, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.