Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 0.9% – Should You Buy?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were up 0.9% on Monday . The company traded as high as $221.03 and last traded at $220.25. Approximately 11,228,381 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 52,543,055 shares. The stock had previously closed at $218.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.65.

Apple Trading Up 1.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $231.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.43.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Institutional investors 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.