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

Bank of America reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $253.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock, down from their prior price target of $256.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.78 on Friday. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.70. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of 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 represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after purchasing an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. increased its stake in Apple by 7.4% during the second quarter. Leonard Rickey Investment Advisors P.L.L.C. now owns 11,422 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,406,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,243 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,474,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. LVZ Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 21.5% in the 2nd quarter. LVZ Inc. now owns 23,892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,032,000 after acquiring an additional 4,234 shares during the period. Finally, JB Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 150,216 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,638,000 after purchasing an additional 18,429 shares in 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.