Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.8% – Should You Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price was up 0.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $250.20 and last traded at $249.83. Approximately 10,789,578 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 57,397,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $231.24 and a 200-day moving average of $222.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. grew its position in Apple by 6.7% during the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 5,831 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 23.6% during the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 24,462 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,700,000 after purchasing an additional 4,675 shares in the last quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.1% during the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 54,499 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,132 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $746,000. Finally, Dantai Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 12.9% during the third quarter. Dantai Capital Ltd now owns 45,715 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,652,000 after purchasing an additional 5,215 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% 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.