Apple Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 31st, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the iPhone maker on Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th.

Apple has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.6% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 13 consecutive years. Apple has a dividend payout ratio of 13.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Apple to earn $8.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.9%.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.72 on Thursday. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.63, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $226.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve 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 stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.