Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) were up 0.7% during trading on Thursday after Maxim Group raised their price target on the stock to $215.00. Maxim Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $246.78 and last traded at $246.57. Approximately 8,103,969 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 52,815,000 shares. The stock had previously closed at $244.87.
Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued 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 $242.52.
Get Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
Insider Activity
In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Apple Stock Performance
The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $240.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.
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.
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