Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 3.7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price fell 3.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after Wedbush downgraded the stock from an outperform rating to a neutral rating. The company traded as low as $202.16 and last traded at $205.44. 36,745,901 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 56,522,422 shares. The stock had previously closed at $213.32.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on AAPL. Raymond James reduced their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 3.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $212.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.63. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.