Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.7% – What’s Next?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $242.28 and last traded at $242.13. Approximately 13,354,329 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 52,026,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $239.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% 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.