Apple’s (AAPL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $250.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on AAPL. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.37.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $230.49 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.98, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.16. Apple has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $214.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC increased its stake in Apple by 333.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.