Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock to $236.00. UBS Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $225.04 and last traded at $224.50. 7,553,043 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 58,680,871 shares. The stock had previously closed at $224.23.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on AAPL. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WorthPointe LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. WorthPointe LLC now owns 16,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,891,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 4,150,902 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $967,160,000 after buying an additional 57,060 shares during the period. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in Apple by 119.9% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 1,031,856 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $240,422,000 after purchasing an additional 562,532 shares during the period. Insight Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 26.3% in the third quarter. Insight Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,307 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,635,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Counsel LLC NY increased its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the third quarter. Capital Counsel LLC NY now owns 77,610 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $18,083,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $215.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.