Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.27.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $230.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.86, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% in the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.