Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

AAPL has been the topic of several other reports. Melius upped their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Argus set a $325.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $226.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $276.39.

Apple Trading Down 0.4%

AAPL stock opened at $270.37 on Friday. Apple has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32. 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 company has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.03, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.01.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted 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 period. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 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.