Apple’s (AAPL) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Bank of America

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities research analysts at Bank of America in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $256.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.92% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AAPL. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.62.

Apple Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.91 on Thursday, hitting $222.76. 19,377,031 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,277,141. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $222.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $196.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction 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 $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.