Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 1% – Here’s What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded up 1% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $258.01 and last traded at $257.92. 8,445,853 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 57,405,113 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 0.9 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $235.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $226.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.36, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.