Rosenblatt Securities Reiterates “Neutral” Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Rosenblatt Securities in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $196.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $189.00. Rosenblatt Securities’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.88% from the stock’s current price.

AAPL has been the subject of several other reports. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.00.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.60. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Arcus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,181 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,599,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after buying an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 900.1% during the 3rd quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC now owns 295,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $50,602,000 after purchasing an additional 266,003 shares during the last quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. now owns 36,478 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,245,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.