Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-two have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $235.91.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Cfra raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $231.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $226.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lantz Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.3% during the first quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 27,390 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,697,000 after buying an additional 1,615 shares during the last quarter. Compass Financial Group INC SD boosted its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Group INC SD now owns 14,893 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,554,000 after purchasing an additional 543 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Strategies LLC now owns 28,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,930,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank increased its holdings in Apple by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. American National Bank now owns 192,245 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $32,966,000 after purchasing an additional 23,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BCS Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.8% in the first quarter. BCS Wealth Management now owns 35,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,032,000 after purchasing an additional 6,285 shares in the last quarter. 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.