Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Rating Reiterated by Bank of America

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Bank of America in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $230.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 7.43% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on AAPL. Loop Capital lowered 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Wedbush upped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.29.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Apple stock opened at $214.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $220.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 11.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 132.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is 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.