Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives Buy Rating from Bank of America

Bank of America reissued their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a $235.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $199.20 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $201.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $223.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $58,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.