Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0.2%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded down 0.2% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $168.47 and last traded at $168.64. 15,167,415 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 60,150,125 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.02.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler Companies cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Apple Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.79. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% 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.