Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price fell 1.7% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $222.77 and last traded at $223.14. 11,769,973 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 58,776,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $226.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 412,746 shares of company stock valued at $93,021,362. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Shum Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at $7,996,000. Rock Point Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 8.9% during the third quarter. Rock Point Advisors LLC now owns 57,228 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,334,000 after purchasing an additional 4,661 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 20.3% in the third quarter. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. now owns 1,016,234 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $236,782,000 after purchasing an additional 171,309 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 98.8% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 215,308 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $50,167,000 after buying an additional 107,022 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its stake in Apple by 7.3% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 93,437 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,771,000 after buying an additional 6,366 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.