Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Monday after KeyCorp upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to a sector weight rating. The stock had previously closed at $198.15, but opened at $211.44. Apple shares last traded at $204.75, with a volume of 30,885,025 shares.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its stake in Apple by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.2% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares during the period. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management increased its position in Apple by 2.5% during the third quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $64,492,000 after buying an additional 6,711 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $221.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

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.