Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 1.2% Following Strong Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $247.19 and last traded at $240.35. 30,922,545 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 56,268,773 shares. The stock had previously closed at $237.59.

The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James boosted their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Joel Adams & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,393,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 415,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $104,075,000 after purchasing an additional 21,778 shares in the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 137,439 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,417,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Chapman Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC now owns 39,635 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,925,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC now owns 6,128 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,535,000 after buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $241.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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.