Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 1.3% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded down 1.3% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $228.27 and last traded at $229.68. 11,680,795 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 57,793,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $241.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 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.