Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0% – Should You Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded down 0% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $222.84 and last traded at $223.65. 9,755,731 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 52,395,983 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.75.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $231.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.43.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.