Barclays Reaffirms “Underweight” Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “underweight” rating reissued by research analysts at Barclays in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. They presently have a $158.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential downside of 5.30% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $1.00 on Tuesday, hitting $166.84. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,457,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 60,451,668. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple has a 1 year low of $162.80 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $174.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. 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.