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

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $237.30.

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its stake in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.00 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $195.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Apple will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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.