Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 1.3% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price was up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $226.55 and last traded at $225.52. Approximately 10,980,298 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 58,944,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Apple Trading Up 2.0 %

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 cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $226.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.