Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 1.7% Higher – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price rose 1.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $199.17 and last traded at $198.66. Approximately 15,800,643 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 56,101,325 shares. The stock had previously closed at $195.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $204.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.71. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,670,000 after buying an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,308,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Finally, Berkshire Bank raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,433,000 after buying an additional 2,360 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.