Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 1.4% – Here’s What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 1.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $329.59 and last traded at $333.43. 61,003,160 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 21% from the average daily volume of 50,492,391 shares. The stock had previously closed at $338.19.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record June-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16.4% year over year, and diluted EPS of $2.02, exceeding Wall Street expectations. iPhone revenue rose 22% to $54.3 billion, while Mac revenue increased 29% to $10.4 billion. Apple reports third quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s large installed base, strong hardware demand and potential consumer-AI opportunities remain long-term supports. Some analysts remain bullish: TD Cowen raised its price target to $400, while other firms maintained Buy or Overweight ratings despite trimming estimates. Analyst raises Apple price target
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, payable August 13 to shareholders of record August 10. Apple also continues to emphasize an AI strategy that requires less capital spending than the infrastructure-heavy approach used by some peers. Apple Q3 financial results

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. KGI Securities lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $350.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.60.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $309.51 and a 200 day moving average of $281.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 142.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.