Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 1%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price rose 1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $227.78 and last traded at $226.55. Approximately 11,695,567 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 63,907,113 shares. The stock had previously closed at $224.31.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Melius Research boosted their price objective on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Apple from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $226.89.

Apple Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $209.72 and a 200 day moving average of $189.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. ACT Advisors LLC. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 17.4% during the second quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 7,022 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC now owns 41,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,768,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 35,870 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,555,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the second quarter. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC now owns 14,769 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the second quarter. Joseph P. Lucia & Associates LLC now owns 44,023 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,272,000 after buying an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.