Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 1.6% – What’s Next?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 1.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $277.00 and last traded at $275.92. Approximately 62,494,335 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 55,622,629 shares. The stock had previously closed at $271.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Argus set a $325.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. HSBC set a $220.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up from $245.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $260.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.92. The company has a market cap of $4.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,520,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,537 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Seven Springs Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,934,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avant Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Avant Capital LLC now owns 4,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,226,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by 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.