Bank of America Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Bank of America in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $256.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 5.19% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.03.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $243.36 on Friday. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $238.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.87. The company has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the third quarter valued at about $77,000. 67.73% 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.