Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares fell 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $233.81 and last traded at $234.47. 8,003,889 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 59,659,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $235.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.48. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during 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 buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at about $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 23,076.4% in the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.