Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 1.6% Higher

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price traded up 1.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $173.12 and last traded at $172.42. 18,831,786 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 61,226,938 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Redburn Partners cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.53.

Apple Stock Down 1.1 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $181.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.66. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 16,252.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 6,949,659 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.