Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Downgraded to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $212.92 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $205.00.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a buy rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a buy rating and set a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius Research reissued a buy rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. New Street Research reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $239.27.

Apple Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.04 on Monday. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $223.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.14. The company has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.51, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 88,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,628,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the period. Bright Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Bright Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 16,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,907,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Guardian Investment Management grew its holdings in Apple by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. Guardian Investment Management now owns 98,729 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,004,000 after acquiring an additional 6,647 shares in the last quarter. McCarthy & Cox increased its position in Apple by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. McCarthy & Cox now owns 1,767 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Crestmont Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $738,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.