Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-six research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-two have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $235.51.

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.00 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $215.60. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

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.