Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given Overweight Rating at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $273.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $232.87 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.30, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Castellan Group grew its holdings in Apple by 206.9% during the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 5,782 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,898 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,290,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,091,062 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $254,217,000 after acquiring an additional 250,514 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,383,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 513,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $119,709,000 after acquiring an additional 152,262 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.