Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Short Interest Update

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 133,040,000 shares, a drop of 5.6% from the October 15th total of 140,920,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 47,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $227.18 and its 200-day moving average is $217.00. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 92,150 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,601,000 after buying an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 35.8% in the first quarter. Paragon Advisors LLC now owns 18,183 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,118,000 after buying an additional 4,793 shares in the last quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the first quarter. Castle Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,998 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,115,000 after buying an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its stake in shares of Apple by 28.9% in the first quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 229,441 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,345,000 after buying an additional 51,428 shares in the last quarter. 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.