Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.4%

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 0.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $174.99 and last traded at $174.11. 12,641,800 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 59,925,059 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $202.62.

Apple Stock Down 0.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $172.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its position in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is 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.