Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $260.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 16.77% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.62.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.63, a PEG ratio of 2.60 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $223.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $198.06. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,903 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,192,000 after buying an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the second quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 79,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,830,000 after purchasing an additional 997 shares during the period. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Brightwater Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,360,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $18,707,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.