Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.4% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $200.54 and last traded at $198.32. 11,848,602 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 55,950,069 shares. The stock had previously closed at $197.49.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.80.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL
Apple Stock Performance
The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $208.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $227.33. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Leslie Global Wealth LLC grew its stake in Apple by 25.3% in the 3rd quarter. Leslie Global Wealth LLC now owns 26,042 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,254 shares during the period. Radnor Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Radnor Capital Management LLC now owns 79,929 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $18,623,000 after acquiring an additional 6,857 shares during the period. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 37,189 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,665,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 21.3% during the 3rd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 26,424 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,093,000 after buying an additional 4,642 shares during the period. Finally, RTD Financial Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. RTD Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,699 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Apple
(
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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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