Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at Moffett Nathanson

Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a neutral rating and a $211.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $233.63.

Apple Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $226.40 on Monday. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $219.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.92. The company has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,026,492,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its position in Apple by 23,076.4% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.