Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.1% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 0.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $236.12 and last traded at $234.72. 8,821,276 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 42,354,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $234.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Wedbush upped their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.85.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

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 company has a 50 day moving average of $240.43 and a 200-day moving average of $230.36. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. 67.73% 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.