Apple’s (AAPL) “Sell” Rating Reaffirmed at Moffett Nathanson

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “sell” rating restated by investment analysts at Moffett Nathanson in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $188.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $202.00. Moffett Nathanson’s price target would indicate a potential downside of 23.27% from the stock’s current price.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.64.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $239.15 and its 200 day moving average is $229.33. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm 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 posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third 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 period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in 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. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.