Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 0% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $222.84 and last traded at $223.65. 9,755,731 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 52,395,983 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.75.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th 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 boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.