Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday.

AAPL has been the subject of several other research reports. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. HSBC set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.52.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $269.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $249.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $222.85. The company has a market cap of $3.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $277.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 28.3% during the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the period. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 209.2% in the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after acquiring an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% 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.