Moffett Nathanson Initiates Coverage on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $211.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AAPL. Cfra lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. UBS Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a buy rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $233.63.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $224.53 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Finally, Sunpointe LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,782,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently 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.