Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.9% Higher – Should You Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price shot up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $221.03 and last traded at $220.25. 11,228,381 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 52,543,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.65.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $231.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.