Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $220.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.97% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Redburn Partners cut Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now 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 can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly 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. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Corporation boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently 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.