Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 1.1% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares shot up 1.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $236.18 and last traded at $234.77. 17,238,824 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 59,993,918 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $225.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $208.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 26.4% in the first quarter. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. now owns 14,193 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after purchasing an additional 2,967 shares during the period. CJM Wealth Advisers Ltd. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. CJM Wealth Advisers Ltd. now owns 18,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,177,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 133.9% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 4,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 2,589 shares during the period. Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Osher Van de Voorde Investment Management now owns 101,555 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,415,000 after purchasing an additional 9,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the first quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp now owns 26,107 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,477,000 after buying an additional 818 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.