Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to Underperform

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a hold rating to an underperform rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $200.75 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock, down from their previous price target of $211.84.

AAPL has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $236.00 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.