Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) released its earnings results on Thursday. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $241.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.87.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Maxim Group raised their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

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.