Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Coverage Initiated at Maxim Group

Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $178.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Redburn Partners lowered Apple to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a neutral rating and set a $189.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $203.34.

Apple Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $165.00 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The business has a fifty day moving average of $174.67 and a 200 day moving average of $182.04. The company has a market cap of $2.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27. Apple has a 52-week low of $162.80 and a 52-week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $456,728,000 after acquiring an additional 435,891 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Markel Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 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.