Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 0.6% – Here’s Why

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $233.81 and last traded at $234.47. Approximately 8,003,889 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 59,659,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. KeyCorp restated a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Cfra raised their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.27.

Apple Trading Down 2.6 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple 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 value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth $140,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.