Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $260.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on AAPL. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a buy rating and issued a $261.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI restated an outperform rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $239.17.

Apple Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $228.87 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.59, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $199.62. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its position in Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.