Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 154,100,000 shares, an increase of 9.3% from the November 15th total of 141,040,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 47,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $248.13 on Monday. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $250.80. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 29th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Apple by 127.4% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after buying an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 45,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,740,000 after purchasing an additional 6,050 shares during the period. MayTech Global Investments LLC grew its position in Apple by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC now owns 182,115 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,229,000 after purchasing an additional 15,853 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 26.3% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 285,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,031,000 after purchasing an additional 59,568 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 417.6% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,822 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% 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.