Bank of America Reaffirms Buy Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bank of America restated their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $256.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an overweight rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and increased their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an outperform rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $237.30.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.79 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $221.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $195.24. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.74, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’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 transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 407,409 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $78,438,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323,639 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,310,000 after buying an additional 4,006 shares in the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $83,229,000. Smith Salley & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Smith Salley & Associates now owns 472,447 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $90,960,000 after purchasing an additional 13,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 9,270,449 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,795,668,000 after purchasing an additional 119,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.