Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 0.9%

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) dropped 0.9% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $164.82 and last traded at $165.58. Approximately 18,880,321 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 60,528,488 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Maxim Group assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. 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. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.34.

Apple Stock Down 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $174.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 16,252.3% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 6,949,659 shares during the period. 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.