Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 1,293,072 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 28% compared to the typical volume of 1,014,140 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial lifted their price target 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. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.95.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salus Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded up $4.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.44. The company had a trading volume of 67,864,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,645,266. Apple has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $203.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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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