Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 3.9% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares experienced a significant increase of 3.9% during mid-day trading, with the stock last trading at $262.24 after reaching a high of $264.38.
• Equity analysts have mixed ratings on Apple, with four analysts rating it as a Strong Buy and others issuing Downgrades, resulting in an average target price of $251.47.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, yielding approximately 0.4%, and reported earnings per share of $1.57 for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) shares were up 3.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $264.38 and last traded at $262.24. Approximately 90,002,343 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 60% from the average daily volume of 56,422,941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "moderate sell" rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $251.47.

Apple Stock Up 3.9%

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $241.13 and a 200-day moving average of $216.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.79, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% during the second 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. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Finally, PKS Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 98,917.0% in the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $12,106,000 after acquiring an additional 57,898,088 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.

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