Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) shares were down 3.7% on Friday after Wedbush downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a neutral rating. The company traded as low as $202.16 and last traded at $205.44. Approximately 36,745,901 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average daily volume of 56,522,422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.32.
A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.25.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple
Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares during the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.4% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 482,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $112,402,000 after purchasing an additional 33,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 28,082 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,543,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Performance
The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $212.15 and a 200-day moving average of $228.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Company Profile
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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.
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