Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.3% Higher

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price traded up 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $183.86 and last traded at $183.35. 12,234,890 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 61,646,535 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.74.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.11.

Apple Price Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $172.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its position in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Company Profile

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.