Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Upgraded to “Sector Weight” at KeyCorp

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was upgraded by research analysts at KeyCorp from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.50.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $198.15 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $222.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.16. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised 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 buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.