Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $214.42 and last traded at $214.61. 23,087,215 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 52,744,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $231.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.