UBS Group Reiterates Hold Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

UBS Group reiterated their hold rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Stock Target Advisor reports. UBS Group currently has a $236.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Maxim Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

Apple Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $231.78 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $225.03 and its 200-day moving average is $207.22. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.05, a P/E/G 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently 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.