Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $237.62 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $241.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $230.81. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s 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 that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

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.