Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) was up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $203.67 and last traded at $202.41. Approximately 13,978,212 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 57,469,398 shares. The stock had previously closed at $200.30.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.
Read Our Latest Report on AAPL
Apple Trading Up 0.5%
The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $202.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.
Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Activity at Apple
In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the period. Allstate Corp increased its position in Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in Apple by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $192,700,000 after buying an additional 83,997 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Bank lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,433,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
About Apple
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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