Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 1% Higher – Here’s Why

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $258.01 and last traded at $257.92. 8,445,853 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 57,405,113 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 1.1 %

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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $236.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 289,507 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,976,000 after acquiring an additional 1,901 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 583,048 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $122,802,000 after buying an additional 20,160 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,241,000. New England Research & Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 10.9% during the second quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 36,253 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,636,000 after buying an additional 3,551 shares during the period. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 289,575 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,990,000 after buying an additional 2,333 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.