Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 2% Higher - Here's What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) shot up 2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $213.34 and last traded at $211.93. 28,209,054 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 53,496,419 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their price target for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Apple Stock Performance

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $203.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.40. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% 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 last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after acquiring an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.