Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price rose 1.4% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $231.31 and last traded at $230.68. Approximately 8,273,031 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 60,293,414 shares. The stock had previously closed at $227.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

Apple Stock Up 1.5 %

The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $223.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $206.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% 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.