Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 1.2% – Still a Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price rose 1.2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $223.46 and last traded at $223.44. Approximately 10,503,477 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 52,661,948 shares. The stock had previously closed at $220.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders 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 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 worth $5,272,653,000 after buying 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.