Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 2.4% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 2.4% on Monday . The company traded as low as $229.72 and last traded at $231.14. 16,480,862 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 42,138,117 shares. The stock had previously closed at $236.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $240.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.52. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company 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%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.