Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.7% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shot up 0.7% on Monday after Maxim Group raised their price target on the stock to $215.00. Maxim Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $248.86 and last traded at $247.30. 16,278,520 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 52,396,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.55.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AAPL. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.85.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.12, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $240.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.