Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0.6%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded down 0.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $224.62 and last traded at $225.49. 6,592,560 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 61,257,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.78.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $186.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.76.

Apple Price Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Finally, Sunpointe LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $4,782,000. Institutional investors 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.