Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shot up 0% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $166.23 and last traded at $165.02. 12,353,257 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 60,575,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.05.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $174.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. 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 quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management boosted its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Planning Corporation boosted its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 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.