Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.8% Higher – Time to Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were up 0.8% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $250.20 and last traded at $249.83. Approximately 10,789,578 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 57,397,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.77.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 29th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $232.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. 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.