Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.7% Higher

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded up 0.7% on Friday . The company traded as high as $231.16 and last traded at $230.50. 31,376,543 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 60,670,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average of $222.41 and a 200-day moving average of $200.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 1.7% during the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Lowery Thomas LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the second quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Company Profile

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.