Bank of America Reiterates Buy Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bank of America reissued their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $256.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup upped their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.03.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $243.36 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $238.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Apple by 88.9% during 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 period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.