Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $260.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an overweight rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Apple from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a buy rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $239.17.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $228.20 on Thursday. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $222.41 and its 200-day moving average is $200.19.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its stake in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% 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.