Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.4%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 0.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $174.99 and last traded at $174.11. 12,641,800 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 59,925,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler Companies cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded 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. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $202.62.

Apple Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $172.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its holdings in 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 worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.