Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 4.1% – Should You Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded down 4.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $188.99 and last traded at $190.68. 28,529,146 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 56,584,589 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.26.

Apple Price Performance

The business’s fifty day moving average is $224.31 and its 200 day moving average is $231.59. The company has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of Apple

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management grew 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 purchasing an additional 6,711 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.