Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.2% – Time to Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price shot up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $214.42 and last traded at $214.61. 23,087,215 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 52,744,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $232.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by 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.