Apple’s (AAPL) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities restated their neutral rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $196.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $189.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AAPL. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Bank of America raised Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Piper Sandler Companies downgraded shares of Apple to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays restated an underweight rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a hold rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $204.11.

Apple Trading Up 6.0 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The business has a fifty day moving average of $172.17 and a 200-day moving average of $181.67.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in Apple by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 149,874 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,175 shares during the period. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 11.9% in the first quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 25,764 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the first quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 367,082 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,947,000 after purchasing an additional 7,091 shares during the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the first quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 24,932 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,276,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 5,497 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.