Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 2% – Should You Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shot up 2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $190.34 and last traded at $185.09. 31,335,820 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 55,700,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $181.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.26.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $231.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 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.