Apple’s (AAPL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $225.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 11.31% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $202.14 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $221.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.79. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.