Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 2.7% – Time to Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price shot up 2.7% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $234.68 and last traded at $233.88. 21,238,711 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 54,762,031 shares. The stock had previously closed at $227.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $241.02 and its 200-day moving average is $231.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.10, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sfmg LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 223,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $55,900,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. Intellus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $22,448,000. Forefront Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $7,895,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Apple by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,511,041 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,880,916,000 after purchasing an additional 351,612 shares during the period. Finally, Plancorp LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 115,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,880,000 after purchasing an additional 3,128 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.