Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Plans $0.27 Quarterly Dividend

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of 0.27 per share by the iPhone maker on Thursday, August 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th.

Apple has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 14 years. Apple has a payout ratio of 13.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Apple to earn $9.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 11.3%.

Apple Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $333.43 on Friday. Apple has a 52-week low of $201.50 and a 52-week high of $344.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.25. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Apple

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.