Apple’s (AAPL) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at UBS Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by research analysts at UBS Group in a research report issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They currently have a $236.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. UBS Group’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.56% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Maxim Group raised 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson dropped their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.33 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $229.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.02. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.