Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 0.4% – Time to Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was down 0.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $241.89 and last traded at $242.78. Approximately 11,828,582 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 32,665,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $243.85.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.03.

Apple Trading Down 0.2 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $238.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.03, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 5.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after acquiring an additional 95,235 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.