Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 1.5% – Time to Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price fell 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $254.50 and last traded at $255.03. 9,851,505 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 57,154,902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.47.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. SMART Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. SMART Wealth LLC now owns 14,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS raised its position in shares of Apple by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 73,945 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,229,000 after buying an additional 5,231 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. grew its position in Apple by 6.7% in the third quarter. Alternative Investment Advisors LLC. now owns 5,831 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Finally, Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL increased its stake in Apple by 23.6% during the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 24,462 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,700,000 after acquiring an additional 4,675 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.