Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning.

AAPL has been the topic of several other research reports. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.23.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of Apple stock traded down $3.00 on Friday, reaching $222.91. The stock had a trading volume of 65,276,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,395,426. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. 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 50 day moving average price of $227.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.03.

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 $1.49 by $0.15. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 10.8% during the first quarter. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 10,402 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after buying an additional 1,013 shares during the period. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the first quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 45,212 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 418,593 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $71,780,000 after purchasing an additional 3,057 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 15.0% during the first quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 23,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ERn Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.0% in the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 41,893 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,184,000 after acquiring an additional 809 shares in 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.