Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0.6% – Here’s Why

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $206.47 and last traded at $207.63. Approximately 10,971,515 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 55,784,617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $208.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 1.0%

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 company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $205.93 and its 200-day moving average is $226.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business 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 160.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.