Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 1.2% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were up 1.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $234.33 and last traded at $234.09. Approximately 8,498,442 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 59,393,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $231.41.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $227.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.34, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were 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 was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,369,852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474,887 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 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.