Apple’s (AAPL) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $220.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Melius Research raised their target price on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $216.75 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $220.20. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $192.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% 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.