Apple Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Investors bought 1,293,072 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 28% compared to the typical volume of 1,014,140 call options.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $213.36 on Friday. Apple has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average is $203.26 and its 200-day moving average is $219.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.95.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.