Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 1.2% Following Earnings Beat

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded up 1.2% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $247.19 and last traded at $240.35. 30,922,545 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 56,268,773 shares. The stock had previously closed at $237.59.

The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a 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 one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.86.

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.