Apple’s (AAPL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Bank of America

Bank of America restated their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $230.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Tuesday. 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. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four 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 an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $218.43.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $227.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $202.05 and its 200-day moving average is $187.27. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $233.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,003,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP increased its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in 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. High Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Corporation lifted its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.