Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Monday after Loop Capital lowered their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $275.00. Loop Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Apple traded as low as $219.71 and last traded at $221.87. 11,186,510 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 59,172,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.91.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AAPL. Cfra lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 417,924 shares of company stock worth $94,142,399. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the third quarter. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. now owns 88,176 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $20,545,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. tru Independence LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. tru Independence LLC now owns 36,281 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,454,000 after buying an additional 1,007 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jupiter Wealth Management LLC now owns 59,192 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,792,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 194,502 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $45,319,000 after acquiring an additional 9,738 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 22.0% during the third quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 368,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $85,822,000 after acquiring an additional 66,351 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $227.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 145.09%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.