Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.2% – What’s Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded up 0.2% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $235.69 and last traded at $235.42. 8,361,816 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 58,104,707 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

The business’s fifty day moving average is $228.83 and its 200-day moving average is $219.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth $110,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.