Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 2%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 2% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $223.82 and last traded at $223.19. 13,239,985 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 63,040,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.97.

Apple Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $211.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its stake in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 368 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.