Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Wedbush

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Wedbush in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $325.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. Wedbush’s price target points to a potential upside of 45.88% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.05.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $222.78 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $240.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth $71,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.