Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Lifted to Outperform at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has $195.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. DZ Bank restated a hold rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. DA Davidson started coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a neutral rating and a $166.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reissued a buy rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a neutral rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $202.62.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $169.30 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $172.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.27. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its holdings in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% 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.