Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $202.62.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler Companies downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th.

Apple Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.