Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.6%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 0.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $192.60 and last traded at $192.25. Approximately 11,812,656 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 61,029,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $191.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.71.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $175.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 371,270 shares of company stock valued at $64,605,696 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the third quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 221,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $37,991,000 after buying an additional 7,829 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 253,604 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $43,420,000 after acquiring an additional 2,789 shares in the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Apple by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 7,565 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after buying an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 92.0% during the third quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 5,895 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 2,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 673,278 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,272,000 after purchasing an additional 10,890 shares in the last quarter. 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.