Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were up 0.3% during trading on Friday after Maxim Group raised their price target on the stock to $215.00. Maxim Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $246.94 and last traded at $246.55. Approximately 10,006,311 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 52,243,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.83.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $240.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.