Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Bank of America

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at Bank of America in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $256.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 14.20% from the stock’s previous close.

AAPL has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler Companies restated 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. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $186.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.76.

Apple Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $224.17. The stock had a trading volume of 17,656,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,315,164. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $222.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $203.34.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $85.78 billion during 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its holdings in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.