Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 1.1% – Should You Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded down 1.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $227.51 and last traded at $227.52. 10,877,171 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 59,113,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $230.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.23.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.15. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after buying an additional 5,566,250 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently 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.