Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given Hold Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their hold rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup restated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of AAPL traded down $2.75 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $196.45. The stock had a trading volume of 51,345,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,804,317. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $201.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.10. The company has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Kondo Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.5% in the first quarter. Kondo Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 12,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,677,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. eCIO Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $120,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,759 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,945,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 349,317 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,594,000 after purchasing an additional 36,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nova Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the first quarter. Nova Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,678 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.