Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 1.8% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Apple Inc. shares rose 1.8%, closing at $256.87, with a trading volume of approximately 52.9 million shares during mid-day trading, down 8% from average volume.
• Analysts have mixed views on Apple, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and target prices ranging from $205.82 to $310.00 after recent upgrades.
• The company reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.57 for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, alongside a revenue of $94.04 billion, marking a 9.6% increase year-over-year.

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) shot up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $257.17 and last traded at $256.87. 52,922,442 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 8% from the average session volume of 57,480,109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Wedbush set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $244.66.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $227.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $290,506,933,000 after purchasing an additional 15,141,995 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after purchasing an additional 5,224,229 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

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.

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