Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.4% Higher

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $228.50 and last traded at $227.25. Approximately 11,558,228 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 61,729,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.76.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $222.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.96.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,531,834,000 after buying an additional 1,067,587 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. 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.