Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Upgraded at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wedbush set a $310.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $247.49.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $258.02 on Wednesday. Apple has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.15, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $233.09 and a 200-day moving average of $214.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.