Apple’s (AAPL) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Bank of America

Bank of America reiterated their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $256.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. KeyCorp reissued a hold rating and set a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital raised Apple from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $238.62.

Apple Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.38 on Thursday. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $222.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $196.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm 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 firm earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at $460,299,000. Clear Rock Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 15,189 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the period. Creekside Partners purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $8,230,000. Brown Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth about $4,405,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth about $11,178,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.