Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

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

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a neutral rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies restated a neutral rating and issued a $225.00 price target (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an overweight rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $239.17.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

AAPL opened at $228.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $200.41. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.