Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given “Hold” Rating at Maxim Group

Maxim Group reiterated their hold rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $203.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $255.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $238.62.

Apple Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $222.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.23. 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 has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for 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 for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at about $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% in the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after buying an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.