Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 0.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 0.5% during trading on Monday after Loop Capital lowered their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $275.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Apple traded as low as $219.71 and last traded at $221.87. Approximately 11,186,510 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 59,172,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.91.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on AAPL. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in 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 period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. raised its position in Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $227.07 and a 200-day moving average of $213.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 145.09% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

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.