Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 0.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price traded down 0.4% on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $286.00 to $280.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Apple traded as low as $222.53 and last traded at $222.76. 18,168,146 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 52,656,453 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.66.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.69.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.