Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.5% Higher

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $168.30 and last traded at $167.79. 12,136,799 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 60,274,887 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.05.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $2.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $173.30 and a 200 day moving average of $181.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its stake in Apple by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after purchasing an additional 20,737 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Apple by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in Apple by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after purchasing an additional 279,311 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.