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

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $238.76.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp reissued a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Cfra increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Terril Brothers Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Terril Brothers Inc. now owns 152,028 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,270,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares in the last quarter. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $26,738,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 28,484 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,484,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the period. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 95.5% in the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 2,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $497,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 178,053 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,280,000 after acquiring an additional 8,560 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $226.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.23. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $222.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $203.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

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.