Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.1% – Still a Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded up 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $253.71 and last traded at $253.62. 8,267,547 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average session volume of 57,094,465 shares. The stock had previously closed at $253.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 0.7 %

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $234.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.06. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.7% during the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.2% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $406,099,000 after buying an additional 95,235 shares during the period. Finally, CHICAGO TRUST Co NA boosted its position in Apple by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 149,219 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,768,000 after acquiring an additional 19,670 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.