Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns “Hold” Rating from UBS Group

UBS Group reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $190.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a neutral rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America raised shares of Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Apple to a neutral rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $205.27.

Apple Stock Up 2.1 %

AAPL opened at $173.31 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple has a twelve month low of $155.98 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $181.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.73.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 6,949,659 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% 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.