Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 1% – Here’s What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded up 1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $240.79 and last traded at $239.59. 48,137,103 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 17% from the average session volume of 41,318,200 shares. The stock had previously closed at $237.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Moffett Nathanson lowered their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.68.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $229.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position 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 worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.