Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 2.1% – Time to Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded up 2.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $238.54 and last traded at $238.18. 10,749,060 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 42,218,262 shares. The stock had previously closed at $233.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $240.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.56.

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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Apple by 88.9% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.