Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 1.5% – Should You Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price dropped 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $254.50 and last traded at $255.03. Approximately 9,851,505 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 57,154,902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.47.

Apple Price Performance

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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $237.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $227.79. The company has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share 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 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 currently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% 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.