Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given “Neutral” Rating at UBS Group

UBS Group restated their neutral rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $190.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Melius Research boosted their price objective on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a buy rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $221.55 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $194.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.60. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $221.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 28,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,856,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Security Financial Services INC. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.1% in the third quarter. Security Financial Services INC. now owns 41,955 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 46.9% in the third quarter. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC now owns 17,091 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,926,000 after purchasing an additional 5,456 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mycio Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the third quarter. Mycio Wealth Partners LLC now owns 70,097 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,001,000 after purchasing an additional 8,716 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.