Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 1.1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price shot up 1.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $236.18 and last traded at $234.77. 17,238,824 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 59,993,918 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Maxim Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $225.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $207.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.51, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alpha Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $659,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 31,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,325,000 after buying an additional 1,825 shares during the period. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Asset Management LLC now owns 5,947 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Slow Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Slow Capital Inc. now owns 91,353 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,285,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chronos Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Chronos Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,104 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,237,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.