Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given Sell Rating at Moffett Nathanson

Moffett Nathanson reiterated their sell rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $188.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock, down from their previous price target of $202.00.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.64.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $242.21 on Tuesday. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $239.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.