Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 1.9% - Here's Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 1.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $244.80 and last traded at $245.71. 16,661,095 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 57,133,910 shares. The stock had previously closed at $250.42.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. New Street Research reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp cut Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.47.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $238.41 and its 200 day moving average is $228.58.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 163,435 shares of company stock worth $39,376,002. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% 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.