Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Here’s What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was down 1.3% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $228.27 and last traded at $229.68. Approximately 11,680,795 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 57,793,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $232.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $241.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.95. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.