Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 1% – Should You Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $258.01 and last traded at $257.92. Approximately 8,445,853 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 57,405,113 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $235.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $226.34.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 17.0% in the 2nd quarter. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Davis Capital Management boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 14,740 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,195,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Apple by 74.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 148,372 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,250,000 after acquiring an additional 63,454 shares in the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its position in shares of Apple by 8.5% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 134,196 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,264,000 after purchasing an additional 10,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 731,818 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $154,136,000 after purchasing an additional 18,144 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.