Apple’s (AAPL) Sell Rating Reiterated at Moffett Nathanson

Moffett Nathanson reiterated their sell rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Moffett Nathanson currently has a $188.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock, down from their prior target price of $202.00.

AAPL has been the topic of several other reports. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.64.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $242.70 on Tuesday. 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.75.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently 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.