Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Bank of America

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by Bank of America in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $256.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.20% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on AAPL. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.76.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock traded down $2.61 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $224.17. The stock had a trading volume of 17,656,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,315,164. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.34. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Apple by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,531,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.