Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $265.00 to $260.00. The stock had previously closed at $229.98, but opened at $224.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple shares last traded at $221.45, with a volume of 16,863,271 shares.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wedbush raised their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.02.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. LexAurum Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. LexAurum Advisors LLC now owns 68,450 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,141,000 after buying an additional 285 shares during the period. RFG Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 170,468 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,689,000 after purchasing an additional 5,086 shares during the last quarter. TABR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $2,155,000. Matthew Goff Investment Advisor LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Matthew Goff Investment Advisor LLC now owns 8,436 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,112,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Motive Wealth Advisors increased its stake in Apple by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 15,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,807,000 after acquiring an additional 1,852 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 3.5 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $241.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.