Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on AAPL. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $235.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $226.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $209.33. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.