Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.8% – Should You Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.8% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $219.31 and last traded at $219.63. Approximately 15,052,957 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 54,701,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $217.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.52.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.