Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns Buy Rating from Bank of America

Bank of America reiterated their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $230.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. DA Davidson raised Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $210.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50-day moving average is $192.13 and its 200-day moving average is $185.46. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after buying an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.