Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Apple Inc. has received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from 33 analysts, with ratings varying from sell to strong buy.
• The company's stock is currently valued at around $256.69 and has a 12-month price range of $169.21 to $260.10.
• Recently, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold over 129,000 shares of Apple at an average price of $256.81, representing a decrease in his ownership stake.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the thirty-three analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $247.4883.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 target price for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $256.69 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $233.94 and its 200-day moving average is $214.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. Apple has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after buying an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PKS Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 98,917.0% in the 2nd quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,106,000 after purchasing an additional 57,898,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

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.

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