Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives “Buy” Rating from Bank of America

Bank of America restated their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a $256.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $238.76.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $226.80 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $222.90 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.06. The firm has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 458,619 shares of company stock valued at $101,352,630 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.