DZ Bank Reaffirms Hold Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by equities research analysts at DZ Bank in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $180.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. DZ Bank’s price target suggests a potential upside of 3.86% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.53.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $173.31 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $181.68 and a 200-day moving average of $182.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple has a 12 month low of $155.98 and a 12 month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 200.0% during the third quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.