Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.4% Higher

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $174.99 and last traded at $174.11. Approximately 12,641,800 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 59,925,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.50.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.62.

Apple Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.77. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Caliber Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,457 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,818,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 72.5% during the 3rd quarter. Janiczek Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,821 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,133,000 after acquiring an additional 15,056 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 7.4% in the third quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 906,664 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $155,230,000 after acquiring an additional 62,513 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 12.9% during the third quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 52,566 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,000,000 after purchasing an additional 6,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Services of America Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 2.5% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Services of America Inc. now owns 9,938 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,702,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.