Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) stock has received a “moderate buy” consensus recommendation from the 35 research firms that currently cover the company, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts rated the stock as a sell, seven as a hold, 17 as a buy, and one as a strong buy. The average 12-month price target for analysts who published a report on the stock last year is $172.25.
A number of brokerage firms have recently commented on the AAPL. DA Davidson lowered Apple’s price target to his $167.00 in a research report on Thursday, Dec. 1. UBS Group set Apple’s price target at his $180.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 1. Citigroup repeated its “buy” rating and announced a $175.00 target price for Apple’s stock in its research report on Tuesday, November 8. Oppenheimer lowered his price target for Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, Dec. 12. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered its price target on Apple from $175.00 to $170.00, giving the stock a Buy rating in its research report on Friday, October 28th.
Insider trading at Apple
In separate Apple news, senior vice president Deirdre O’brien sold 8,053 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that took place on Monday, October 17th. The shares sold at an average price of $142.45, giving him a total of $1,147,149.85. After the transaction, the Senior Vice President now directly owns 136,290 shares of the Company stock valued at $19,414,510.50. The sale was disclosed in legal filings with the SEC available at this link. In separate Apple news, senior vice president Deirdre O’brien sold 8,053 shares of the company’s stock in a deal that took place on Monday, Oct. 17. The shares sold at an average price of $142.45, giving him a total of $1,147,149.85. After the transaction, the Senior Vice President now directly owns 136,290 shares of the Company stock valued at $19,414,510.50. The sale was disclosed in legal filings with the SEC available at this link. CFO Luca Maestri also sold 176,299 shares of the company in a transaction that took place on Friday, October 28th. The shares sold for an average of $155.95, giving him a total of $27,493,829.05. Following the closing of the transaction, the Chief Financial Officer now directly owns 110,673 shares of his company worth $17,259,454.35. Please see here for the disclosure of this sale. In the past three months, the insider has sold 204,552 shares of his company stock worth $31,645,123. 0.06% of the shares are currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional investors weigh heavily on Apple
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently changed their holdings in the company. Grassi Investment Management increased his Apple stake by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Grassi Investment Management now owns 351,220 shares of the iPhone maker worth $45,634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,421 shares of him last quarter. Kwmg LLC increased his Apple stake by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Kwmg LLC now owns 10,606 shares of the iPhone maker worth $1,378,000 after acquiring another 264 shares last quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. increased his Apple holdings by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 28,798 shares of the iPhone maker worth $3,742,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares last quarter. American National Bank increased its holding of Apple by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. American National Bank now owns 153,221 shares of the iPhone maker worth $19,908,000 after purchasing an additional 16,952 shares last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA increased its holding in Apple by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 60,315 shares of the iPhone maker worth $7,837,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s shares.
Apple shares up 0.4%
AAPL opened at $130.73 on Wednesday. The company has an equity ratio of 1.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.88. Apple’s 52-week low is $124.17 and its 52-week high is $179.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.24. His 50-day moving average for this stock is $139.75 and its 200-day moving average is $148.44.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last reported quarterly results on Thursday, October 27th. The iPhone maker reported his EPS of $1.29 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus forecast of $1.26 by $0.03. Apple’s return on equity was 160.90% and net profit margin was 25.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was $90.15 billion, compared with analysts’ expectations of $88.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned him $1.24 per share. Apple’s revenue increased 7.8% year-over-year. On average, equity analysts expect Apple to post an EPS of 6.19 this year.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The company recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid out on Thursday, November 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 7 were paid a dividend of $0.23. This represents his $0.92 dividend and his 0.70% yield on an annualized basis. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 4. Apple’s Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) is currently 15.06%.
About Apple
(get rating)
Apple Inc designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, computers, tablets, wearables and accessories worldwide. We also sell a variety of related services. In addition, the company offers his iPhone, a line of smartphones. Mac, personal computer line. iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets. Wearables, home, and accessories consisting of AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.
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