Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Jefferies Financial Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was downgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Loop Capital raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Seaport Res Ptn raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.47.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $262.77 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $265.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $242.49 and a 200-day moving average of $217.74.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its holdings in Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.