Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.8%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares shot up 0.8% on Monday . The company traded as high as $191.92 and last traded at $191.40. 15,710,506 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 61,216,137 shares. The stock had previously closed at $189.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.71.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $174.87 and its 200-day moving average is $182.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.91, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock worth $64,605,696. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Headinvest LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake in Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its stake in Apple by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,158,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its stake in Apple by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 808,709 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $155,701,000 after buying an additional 112,980 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.