Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.2% – Here’s What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 0.2% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $253.45 and last traded at $254.02. 9,838,711 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 57,481,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $235.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $226.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, 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 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Financial Advisory increased its position in Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% 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.