Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $233.81 and last traded at $234.93. 33,471,141 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 58,223,145 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.68.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $229.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd 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 bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $110,000. 60.41% 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.