Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 5.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 5.3% on Monday . The company traded as high as $211.27 and last traded at $208.70. Approximately 26,085,636 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 55,983,153 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $208.09 and a 200 day moving average of $227.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.34, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% 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.