Apple’s (AAPL) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $260.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 13.05% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.17.

Apple Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.98 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $241.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.