Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.5% – Here’s What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded up 0.5% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $237.86 and last traded at $236.88. 11,453,403 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 53,377,103 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.74.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America upped their target price on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

Apple Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $238.36 and its 200 day moving average is $233.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.16, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Apple

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.