Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.7%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 0.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $167.11 and last traded at $168.52. 15,619,003 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 59,643,406 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.08.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $176.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.15.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 253,915 shares of company stock valued at $44,202,868. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management lifted its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 9,202 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kraft Davis & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Apple

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.