Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms "Hold" Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Needham & Company reaffirmed a “Hold” rating on Apple, while broader analyst sentiment remains positive: MarketBeat reports an average “Moderate Buy” rating and a $328.60 consensus price target.
• Apple reported strong quarterly results, with $109.42 billion in revenue—up 16.4% year over year—and EPS of $2.02, beating the $1.89 consensus estimate.
• Apple shares opened at $333.43, giving the company a roughly $4.90 trillion market capitalization; the stock trades at a P/E ratio of 40.32 and is near its one-year high of $344.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating restated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

AAPL has been the subject of several other reports. KeyCorp reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $360.00 price target (down from $370.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. HSBC raised Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $366.00 in a report on Thursday, July 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and set a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $328.60.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $333.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple has a one year low of $201.50 and a one year high of $344.57. The business's 50-day moving average price is $309.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.25. The company has a market capitalization of $4.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm's revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Apple will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record quarterly revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16.4% year over year, while diluted EPS of $2.02 exceeded Wall Street’s $1.89 estimate. iPhone revenue rose 22% to $54.3 billion and Mac revenue increased 29% to $10.4 billion. Apple reports third quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Baird, Goldman Sachs and Citi reiterated Buy ratings, citing premium hardware pricing, stabilizing high-margin Services growth, and longer-term opportunities from Apple’s artificial-intelligence strategy. Price targets ranged from $330 to $365. Goldman Sachs reiterates Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new leasing program, supported by Klarna, could encourage more frequent upgrades and increase sales of higher-priced devices. The company also highlighted an all-time-high installed base and potential AI-related growth, including a possible paid tier for advanced Siri features. Apple leasing program

About Apple

Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.

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