Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.7% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $242.28 and last traded at $242.13. Approximately 13,354,329 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 52,026,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $240.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned 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.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $240.10 and a 200 day moving average of $233.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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.