Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $260.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 17.81% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on AAPL. TD Cowen increased their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.17.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $220.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $222.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $199.41. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now 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 through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its position in Apple by 2,340.2% during the 2nd quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 70,766 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,905,000 after acquiring an additional 67,866 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC grew its stake in Apple by 3.5% in the second quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 115,785 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $24,387,000 after purchasing an additional 3,894 shares in the last quarter. American Trust increased its position in shares of Apple by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 72,174 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,201,000 after purchasing an additional 7,428 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake 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 worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 79,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,830,000 after buying an additional 997 shares during the last quarter. 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.