Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shot up 0.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $243.71 and last traded at $242.70. 37,560,095 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 43,806,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $242.21.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Citigroup raised their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.64.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $239.57 and a 200-day moving average of $229.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Lantz Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 9.8% in the 2nd quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 143,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $30,269,000 after buying an additional 12,848 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 53,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,258,000 after buying an additional 5,233 shares during the last quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,073 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,700,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 51,290 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,803,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.