China Renaissance Initiates Coverage on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Equities research analysts at China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the iPhone maker's stock. China Renaissance's price target points to a potential upside of 15.16% from the stock's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $233.88.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.91 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $209.28. The stock had a trading volume of 38,183,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,740,570. Apple has a 12 month low of $168.15 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $216.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

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.