Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Saturday . The stock traded as high as $237.81 and last traded at $237.33, with a volume of 28481377 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $234.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $229.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Trust lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 77,292 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,009,000 after purchasing an additional 5,118 shares during the last quarter. Castellan Group increased its position in shares of Apple by 206.9% during the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 5,782 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after acquiring an additional 3,898 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,290,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Apple by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,091,062 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $254,217,000 after acquiring an additional 250,514 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,383,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.