Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 2.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $229.72 and last traded at $231.14. Approximately 16,480,862 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 61% from the average daily volume of 42,138,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $236.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $240.18 and a 200-day moving average of $230.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.38, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in Apple by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 155,597 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $38,964,000 after purchasing an additional 6,953 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Apple by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 250,656 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,368,000 after buying an additional 21,149 shares in the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 46,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,713,000 after buying an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Envision Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $512,000. Finally, HFG Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. HFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,982 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,326,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.