Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.1% Following Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock to $236.00. UBS Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $225.04 and last traded at $224.50. Approximately 7,553,043 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 58,680,871 shares. The stock had previously closed at $224.23.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 387.3% during the second quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares during the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $876,000. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 920,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $193,926,000 after acquiring an additional 8,028 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WT Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $80,057,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $226.72 and its 200 day moving average is $215.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given 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 (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.