Apple’s (AAPL) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $196.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $189.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Maxim Group started coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a hold rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued 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 target price of $204.00.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $10.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $183.38. The stock had a trading volume of 163,224,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. The business’s fifty day moving average is $172.15 and its 200-day moving average is $181.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Arcus Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,181 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,599,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Apple by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the period. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 900.1% in the 3rd quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC now owns 295,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $50,602,000 after acquiring an additional 266,003 shares during the period. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. increased its position in Apple by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. now owns 36,478 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,245,000 after acquiring an additional 3,571 shares during the period. Finally, MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.