Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.3%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded up 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $166.71 and last traded at $166.34. 13,442,888 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 60,413,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 16th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $174.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now 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 have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.6% in the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,589,000 after acquiring an additional 20,737 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.