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

Bank of America reissued their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a $256.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.03.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $243.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $238.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.08. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% 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.