Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 1% – What’s Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded down 1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $271.64 and last traded at $271.84. 49,259,957 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 10% from the average session volume of 54,634,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $274.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. CLSA increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.92.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $268.95 and its 200-day moving average is $238.34.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The business’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 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.