Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) shares traded up 2.1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $238.54 and last traded at $238.18. 10,749,060 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 42,218,262 shares. The stock had previously closed at $233.28.
AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.85.
Read Our Latest Report on Apple
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's fifty day moving average is $240.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.56.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.
In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.
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.
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