Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $223.95 and last traded at $222.95. Approximately 7,405,938 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 59,092,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business 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 earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Apple by 158.3% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,250 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.