Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.76.

Apple Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.67 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $203.50. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The company has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 458,619 shares of company stock valued at $101,352,630. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 132.8% during the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Finally, Sunpointe LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $4,782,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently 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.