Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-one have given a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $243.65.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $214.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $232.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in shares of Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $787,631,000 after purchasing an additional 588,427 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 3,097,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $721,658,000 after purchasing an additional 350,505 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 22.1% during the third quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 46,161 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,756,000 after purchasing an additional 8,352 shares in the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 187.4% during the third quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 33,363 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,773,000 after purchasing an additional 21,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moody National Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Apple by 7.5% during the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 160,653 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $37,432,000 after purchasing an additional 11,213 shares in the last quarter. 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.