Apple’s (AAPL) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at UBS Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at UBS Group in a research note issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $190.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective points to a potential downside of 11.02% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of AAPL traded up $2.90 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $213.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,723,840 shares, compared to its average volume of 64,758,789. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.10, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $192.13 and its 200-day moving average is $185.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 247,087 shares of company stock worth $44,016,111 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $6,751,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 128,908 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,105,000 after purchasing an additional 4,790 shares in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,220 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the first quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 28,679 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,918,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $1,716,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.