Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPLGet Free Report)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $184.00 to $183.00. The stock had previously closed at $229.98, but opened at $224.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Apple shares last traded at $221.45, with a volume of 16,863,271 shares.

Several other research firms have also commented on AAPL. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.99.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.82.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPLGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Apple Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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