Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 2.2% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 2.2% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $196.00 and last traded at $197.61. 16,848,166 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 56,712,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $202.14.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.85.

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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $221.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.79. The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 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%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paragon Capital Management Ltd grew its position in Apple by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 20,223 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,492,000 after acquiring an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the first quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 120,389 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 4.9% in the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 492,879 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $109,483,000 after acquiring an additional 23,112 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 53.0% during the first quarter. Parkside Investments LLC now owns 76,533 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,000,000 after purchasing an additional 26,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RFG Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 12.7% during the first quarter. RFG Holdings Inc. now owns 10,807 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,214 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.