Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Saturday . The stock traded as high as $237.81 and last traded at $237.33, with a volume of 28481377 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $234.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $229.02 and a 200 day moving average of $219.59.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Apple by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares during the period. Keener Financial Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.3% during the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 5,497 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $943,000 after buying an additional 469 shares in the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.0% during the first quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 24,932 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,276,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 367,082 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,947,000 after acquiring an additional 7,091 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 25,764 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.