Apple's (AAPL) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at UBS Group

UBS Group reiterated their hold rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in a research report released on Wednesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a $236.00 price target on the iPhone maker's stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler Companies reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.27.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $231.78. 34,060,339 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 60,342,164. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $224.59 and a 200 day moving average of $207.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,128,000 after buying an additional 19,352 shares during the period. WT Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $80,057,000. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $11,776,000. Financial Life Advisors bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 5,488 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.