Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.4% – Time to Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price rose 0.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $223.95 and last traded at $222.95. Approximately 7,405,938 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 59,092,621 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $227.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.03. 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 company has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 417,924 shares of company stock valued at $94,142,399 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Total Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Total Investment Management Inc. now owns 32,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,644,000 after purchasing an additional 1,984 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 46.8% during the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 41,934 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,771,000 after purchasing an additional 13,372 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 285,248 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $66,463,000 after purchasing an additional 10,604 shares in the last quarter. Proactive Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $4,814,000. Finally, Platform Technology Partners grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 133,028 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $30,668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,671 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.