Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 1.2% – What’s Next?

by · The Cerbat Gem

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPLGet Free Report) shares fell 1.2% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $278.59 and last traded at $280.70. 42,607,820 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 55,198,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $284.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.53.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple

Apple Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.25. The stock has a market cap of $4.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPLGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $290,506,933,000 after purchasing an additional 15,141,995 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $123,358,461,000 after buying an additional 5,224,229 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $72,506,336,000 after acquiring an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

(Get Free Report)

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.

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