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

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-three brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $240.8006.

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Melius Research set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,921,000. WT Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Apple by 8.7% in the second quarter. WT Wealth Management now owns 44,563 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,143,000 after acquiring an additional 3,556 shares during the period. NWF Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 135,872 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,877,000 after acquiring an additional 4,922 shares during the period. Prospera Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.2% in the second quarter. Prospera Capital Management LLC now owns 6,656 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, American Trust lifted its holdings in Apple by 19.7% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 71,199 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,608,000 after acquiring an additional 11,698 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $230.03 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.91, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.48. Apple has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

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.