Apple’s (AAPL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $260.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $253.00 target price (down from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $236.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $241.68 and a 200-day moving average of $230.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Analysts predict that Apple will post 7.34 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 16.9% in the second quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 252,409 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,162,000 after acquiring an additional 36,507 shares during the period. Instrumental Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Instrumental Wealth LLC now owns 6,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,503,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC now owns 44,911 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,459,000 after buying an additional 985 shares during the last quarter. Bensler LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 129,780 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,334,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the period. Finally, Park Edge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 10,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after buying an additional 555 shares during the period. 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.