Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.2% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded down 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $247.10 and last traded at $247.39. 7,517,480 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 57,237,316 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $232.08 and a 200-day moving average of $223.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. 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.