Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $226.92 and last traded at $226.59. 10,236,485 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 58,564,520 shares. The stock had previously closed at $225.12.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Down 1.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.96. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 46,096 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,740,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 220,439 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $51,361,000 after acquiring an additional 13,907 shares in the last quarter. Valued Retirements Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,538,000. Finally, Brophy Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $9,726,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently 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.