Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 1% – Time to Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price rose 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $237.81 and last traded at $237.33. Approximately 28,481,377 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 58,094,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $234.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Apple Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $110,000. Institutional investors 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.