Short Interest in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Declines By 7.6%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 124,920,000 shares, a decline of 7.6% from the January 15th total of 135,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 49,910,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $244.60 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day moving average is $240.70 and its 200 day moving average is $231.68. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.