Apple’s (AAPL) Buy Rating Reiterated at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $260.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on AAPL. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.26.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $229.45 and a 200-day moving average of $233.16. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 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.