Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 1.5% - Should You Sell?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) were down 1.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $197.35 and last traded at $195.56. Approximately 11,290,919 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 55,972,983 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America decreased their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 1.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $210.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $228.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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