Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 2.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 2.5% on Wednesday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $275.00 to $252.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple traded as low as $216.50 and last traded at $215.33. 17,911,270 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average session volume of 53,226,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $220.84.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.22.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $288,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd 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 during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.6 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $236.47 and its 200 day moving average is $234.12. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

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.