Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 1.2% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $212.17 and last traded at $210.89. Approximately 11,455,817 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 52,895,230 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.49.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.22.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently 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.