Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives Hold Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $245.00 target price (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.60.

Apple Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $333.43 on Friday. Apple has a 52-week low of $201.50 and a 52-week high of $344.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $309.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple will post 8.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the second quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 44,726 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,942,000 after acquiring an additional 521 shares during the last quarter. WealthCare Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 132.8% in the 2nd quarter. WealthCare Asset Management LLC now owns 44,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,802,000 after purchasing an additional 25,241 shares during the last quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the second quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,179,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. GatePass Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 8.4% in the second quarter. GatePass Capital LLC now owns 5,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 21,592 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,248,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record quarterly revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16.4% year over year, while diluted EPS of $2.02 exceeded Wall Street’s $1.89 estimate. iPhone revenue rose 22% to $54.3 billion and Mac revenue increased 29% to $10.4 billion. Apple reports third quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Baird, Goldman Sachs and Citi reiterated Buy ratings, citing premium hardware pricing, stabilizing high-margin Services growth, and longer-term opportunities from Apple’s artificial-intelligence strategy. Price targets ranged from $330 to $365. Goldman Sachs reiterates Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s new leasing program, supported by Klarna, could encourage more frequent upgrades and increase sales of higher-priced devices. The company also highlighted an all-time-high installed base and potential AI-related growth, including a possible paid tier for advanced Siri features. Apple leasing program

About Apple

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.