Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0.4% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price fell 0.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $212.95 and last traded at $213.07. 11,455,597 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 52,860,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company’s fifty day moving average is $233.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.71.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 254.9% during the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 107,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,543,000 after acquiring an additional 76,870 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $4,442,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,587,000. Gibson Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Gibson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,894 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 275,702 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $58,068,000 after buying an additional 32,203 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.