Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 3.9% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded up 3.9% during mid-day trading on Monday after KeyCorp upgraded the stock from an underweight rating to a sector weight rating. The stock traded as high as $212.94 and last traded at $205.86. 43,901,773 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 56,736,082 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.15.

AAPL has been the subject of several other reports. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 2.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.