Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Citigroup

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at Citigroup in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. They presently have a $255.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.73% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. KeyCorp reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

Apple Stock Down 2.9 %

Apple stock opened at $226.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $222.39 and its 200 day moving average is $203.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bridge Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the third quarter. Bridge Advisory LLC now owns 34,797 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,108,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 10,671 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,486,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $7,371,000. Ashburton Jersey Ltd bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $15,855,000. Finally, Sage Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.3% in the second quarter. Sage Advisors LLC now owns 44,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.