Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.9% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded up 0.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $231.55 and last traded at $230.17. 14,487,270 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 58,384,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Up 0.3 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $241.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.96. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.02, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 252.3% during 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 acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.