Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0.2%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was down 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $168.47 and last traded at $168.64. Approximately 15,167,415 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 60,150,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler Companies cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Maxim Group started coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson began coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $173.04 and a 200 day moving average of $181.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. grew its holdings in Apple by 5.5% during the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,963,000 after buying an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 13.6% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after buying an additional 20,737 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after purchasing an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% 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.