Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 1.5% – What’s Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price was down 1.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $254.50 and last traded at $255.03. Approximately 9,851,505 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 57,154,902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Apple Trading Down 1.9 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $237.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.