Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded down 1.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $227.51 and last traded at $227.52. 10,877,171 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 59,113,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $230.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Apple Stock Down 1.0 %

The company’s fifty day moving average is $227.23 and its 200-day moving average is $211.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $140,000. 60.41% 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.