Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were up 0.7% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $226.06 and last traded at $225.12. Approximately 17,093,980 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 58,993,574 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.45.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $226.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 417,924 shares of company stock worth $94,142,399. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 69,853 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,276,000 after purchasing an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.6% during the third quarter. Evergreen Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,366 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,347,000 after buying an additional 2,549 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 22.3% in the third quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 21,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,996,000 after buying an additional 3,905 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $2,248,000. Finally, Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 2.3% during the third quarter. Maxwell Wealth Strategies Inc. now owns 32,444 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,250,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.