Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.2% – What’s Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $214.42 and last traded at $214.61. Approximately 23,087,215 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 52,744,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.10.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in 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 valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.