Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 1.2% Higher – Still a Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded up 1.2% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $197.20 and last traded at $196.68. 15,858,723 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 56,653,860 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.27.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day moving average is $219.65 and its 200 day moving average is $230.08.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after buying an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $64,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.