Apple’s (AAPL) “Hold (C+)” Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reaffirmed their hold (c+) rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report released on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. CLSA upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.47.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $262.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average is $244.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $219.65. Apple has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $265.29.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Columbia Advisory Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.7% during the third quarter. Columbia Advisory Partners LLC now owns 6,074 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,547,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Vicus Capital grew its holdings in Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 59,542 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,161,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 34,062 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,673,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109 shares during the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 554,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $141,107,000 after purchasing an additional 100,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 91.5% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 402,407 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $102,465,000 after purchasing an additional 192,240 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.