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

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-four analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $235.80.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $203.27 on Wednesday. Apple has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $202.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.69.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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

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.