Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.7%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $231.16 and last traded at $230.50. Approximately 31,376,543 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 48% from the average daily volume of 60,670,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.17.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $199.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 in the last three months. 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. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.