Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw a significant growth in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 153,410,000 shares, a growth of 35.1% from the May 31st total of 113,520,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 67,950,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $210.62 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $185.46. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th 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 was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple Company Profile

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.