Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on AAPL. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Cfra increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Moffett Nathanson assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.23.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $222.91 on Friday. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $227.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.64. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 145.09%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 417,924 shares of company stock worth $94,142,399. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,369,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 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.