Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.8% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price traded up 0.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $213.43 and last traded at $211.33. 17,687,599 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 53,256,553 shares. The stock had previously closed at $209.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James upped their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.22.

Apple Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.