Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $225.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price points to a potential upside of 9.57% from the stock’s current price.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.17.

Apple Stock Down 3.7 %

AAPL stock opened at $205.35 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $212.15 and its 200 day moving average is $228.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% 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.