Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-two have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $239.27.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its position in Apple by 23,076.4% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Apple by 158.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 161.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after buying an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $236.48 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $226.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $208.86. The company has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.78, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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.