Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0.8%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price fell 0.8% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $181.63 and last traded at $181.94. 27,973,332 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 61,634,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $183.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $172.17 and a 200-day moving average of $181.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.