Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Short Interest Up 11.1% in August

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 135,040,000 shares, an increase of 11.1% from the August 15th total of 121,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 63,000,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Apple Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $216.79 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $222.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $199.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC increased its stake in Apple by 23,076.4% in the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.