Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.3%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price rose 0.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $170.65 and last traded at $169.95. Approximately 12,614,839 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 60,829,035 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.38.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Partners cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $176.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.31. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.6% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after buying an additional 20,737 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the third quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 50,943 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,722,000 after buying an additional 1,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares in 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.