Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

Posted by Tristan Rich on Mar 19th, 2023

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) in a report published on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on AAPL. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, March 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Credit Suisse Group set a $184.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $160.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $155.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $146.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.32. Apple has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $179.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a return on equity of 163.45% and a net margin of 24.56%. The business had revenue of $117.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Robinson Value Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. St. James Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 98.3% during the 4th quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP increased its stake in Apple by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ramsey Quantitative Systems acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.