Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 1.3% – Still a Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $228.18 and last traded at $228.03. Approximately 7,986,869 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 58,445,543 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $227.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $217.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Financial Advisory raised its position in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.