Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

26 Oct 2024, 01:10 by Amy Steele · The Cerbat Gem

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Tuesday morning.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Cfra boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.91.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $231.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $226.75 and a 200 day moving average of $209.62. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Company Profile

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