Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Maxim Group

Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $178.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on AAPL. Redburn Partners downgraded Apple to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. DZ Bank reiterated a hold rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup restated a buy rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $203.34.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $168.00 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $175.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $182.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple has a twelve month low of $162.80 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Apple by 20.0% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after purchasing an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after acquiring an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 9.2% in the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 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.