Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by stock analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued on Friday,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 54.64% from the stock’s current price.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.22.

Apple Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $210.16. 9,527,406 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,230,150. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $235.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.83. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in Apple by 254.9% in the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 107,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,543,000 after purchasing an additional 76,870 shares during the period. Clarity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 148.5% in the 2nd quarter. Clarity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,096 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $231,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Apple by 27.0% during the second quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 45,215 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,523,000 after acquiring an additional 9,605 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 128,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,966,000 after purchasing an additional 7,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kathmere Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 70,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,865,000 after purchasing an additional 13,354 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

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.