Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 0.1%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price was down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $215.75 and last traded at $217.82. Approximately 12,101,543 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 63,366,629 shares. The stock had previously closed at $217.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Cfra increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.97.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $210.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.