Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 3.1% on Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) shares dropped 3.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after Wedbush downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a neutral rating. The stock traded as low as $198.21 and last traded at $198.93. Approximately 20,561,888 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 56,060,659 shares. The stock had previously closed at $205.35.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report 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 restated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % 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 three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $288,000. Vestcor Inc raised its stake in Apple by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $87,501,000 after purchasing an additional 34,414 shares during the last quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 32.9% in the 3rd quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,972,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

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.