Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 102,090,000 shares, an increase of 14.9% from the August 15th total of 88,850,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 56,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $199.41.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $175.01 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $184.70 and a 200 day moving average of $175.43. The stock has a market cap of $2.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.27. Apple has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $198.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 164.92%. The business had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total transaction of $2,753,216.64. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after purchasing an additional 435,891 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares in the last quarter. Markel Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after buying an additional 8,450 shares during the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after buying an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

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.

Further Reading

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