Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $220.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AAPL. Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $203.34.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $165.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27. Apple has a twelve month low of $162.80 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $174.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.04. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position 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 worth $456,728,000 after acquiring an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $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.