Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 1.2% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shot up 1.2% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $197.20 and last traded at $196.68. 15,858,723 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 56,653,860 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Apple Trading Up 1.7 %

The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $220.98 and its 200-day moving average is $230.53.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. now owns 8,131 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 10,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 129,612 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,172 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.2% in the first quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 35,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,972,000 after buying an additional 4,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Apple by 122.6% during the first quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 30,283 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,727,000 after buying an additional 16,680 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.