Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Morgan Stanley

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Morgan Stanley in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $273.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 20.17% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.51.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

AAPL opened at $227.18 on Tuesday. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $220.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $194.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 188,884 shares of company stock worth $38,092,387 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory increased its position in Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the second quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 51 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.