Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 1.3% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $226.55 and last traded at $225.52. 10,980,298 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 58,944,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.72.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Cfra lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Phillips Financial Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 21,168 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,932,000 after buying an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 313,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $73,004,000 after acquiring an additional 84,276 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 22.5% during the third quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 41,969 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,779,000 after acquiring an additional 7,697 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 157,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,591,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $4,495,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by 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.