Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty-six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $199.41.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $149.00 to $167.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 4th.

View Our Latest Analysis on Apple

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parker Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the second quarter. Parker Financial LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $881,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Mokosak Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the second quarter. Mokosak Advisory Group LLC now owns 5,562 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. MKT Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the second quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the second quarter. Professional Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,213 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,563,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intrepid Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.8% during the second quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,631,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $175.01 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $184.70 and its 200-day moving average is $175.64. Apple has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $198.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $2.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 164.92%. The company had revenue of $81.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Apple Company Profile

(Get Free Report

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.

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