Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns Buy Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $220.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. 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. DA Davidson began coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a neutral rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an outperform rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $203.34.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $167.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $175.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $182.10. Apple has a 12-month low of $162.80 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 16,252.3% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 6,949,659 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% 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.