Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Raised to Strong-Buy at CLSA

Key Points

• Apple has been upgraded to a strong-buy rating by CLSA, reflecting positive sentiment from multiple analysts recently.
• The company's stock opened at $256.48, with a market cap of $3.81 trillion and its average target price is $247.49.
• Recent transactions indicate significant insider selling, with notable shares sold by SVP Deirdre O'brien and CEO Timothy D. Cook, amounting to over $44 million combined.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at CLSA to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report issued on Sunday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $247.49.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $256.48 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $234.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $215.25. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.92, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.09. Apple has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 286,657 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $72,991,000 after acquiring an additional 4,359 shares during the period. Balefire LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Balefire LLC now owns 31,946 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,134,000 after acquiring an additional 3,820 shares during the period. Towerpoint Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Towerpoint Wealth LLC now owns 20,224 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,150,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 104.2% during the 3rd quarter. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. now owns 16,592 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,225,000 after acquiring an additional 8,466 shares during the period. Finally, Carr Financial Group Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 20,050 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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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