Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.2%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares fell 0.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $181.45 and last traded at $181.99. 11,528,197 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 61,826,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $172.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 26,797 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,588,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 700,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $120,086,000 after purchasing an additional 353,801 shares in the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 78,010 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,356,000 after purchasing an additional 5,870 shares during the period. KFG Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.1% during the third quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,492 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,193,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the third quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 77,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,353,000 after buying an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.