Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Short Interest Update

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 135,190,000 shares, a drop of 13.9% from the December 31st total of 157,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 48,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’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 $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Joel Adams & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $1,393,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 415,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $104,075,000 after purchasing an additional 21,778 shares during the period. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 137,439 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,417,000 after purchasing an additional 535 shares during the period. Chapman Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Chapman Investment Management LLC now owns 39,635 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,925,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Advisors Asset Management LLC now owns 6,128 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,535,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $236.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.84. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.