Bank of America Reiterates Buy Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at Bank of America in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $230.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 1.28% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, July 4th. DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised 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. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.43.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $232.98 on Tuesday. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $233.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $200.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $186.98. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Flagstone Financial Management lifted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.