Apple's (AAPL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $260.00 price target on the iPhone maker's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. New Street Research restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $238.02.

Apple Trading Down 3.2 %

AAPL traded down $7.34 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $222.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 97,195,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,959,605. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $241.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.85. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. 67.73% 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.