Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0%

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $215.51 and last traded at $213.26. Approximately 16,081,383 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 64,820,250 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Melius Research increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $192.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.