Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.4%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shot up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $171.34 and last traded at $170.52. 13,698,926 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 60,028,180 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.89.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.05.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.81. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.