Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 0.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $212.95 and last traded at $213.07. 11,455,597 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 52,860,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group upped their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.65.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.71. The company has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 254.9% in the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 107,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,543,000 after purchasing an additional 76,870 shares during the period. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,442,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,587,000. Gibson Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 15.0% during the second quarter. Gibson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,894 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Apple by 13.2% during the second quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 275,702 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $58,068,000 after purchasing an additional 32,203 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.