Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives “Sell” Rating from Moffett Nathanson

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “sell” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Moffett Nathanson in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $188.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock, down from their previous price target of $202.00. Moffett Nathanson’s price target points to a potential downside of 23.27% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.64.

Apple Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.33. 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 company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Apple

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

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.