Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $170.51 and last traded at $170.80. 19,347,322 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 61,185,809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.53.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $181.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.65 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its position in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP lifted its position in Apple by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.