Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.1%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price shot up 0.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $168.64 and last traded at $168.13. 12,106,059 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 60,703,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group began coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $175.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 9,202 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,772,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kraft Davis & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,155,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.