Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

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

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.26.

Apple Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 47,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,551,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 91,378 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $20,298,000 after buying an additional 1,653 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Apple by 64.8% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 48,710 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,820,000 after acquiring an additional 19,147 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 2.5% in the first quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 254,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,607,000 after purchasing an additional 6,130 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 23,982 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,327,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% 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.