Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.5%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price fell 0.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $219.82 and last traded at $221.60. 8,882,918 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 60,888,027 shares. The stock had previously closed at $222.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Loop Capital raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.62.

Apple Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.52.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.