Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was upgraded by Piper Sandler from an “average” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, The Fly reports. The firm currently has a $130.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price target indicates a potential upside of 4.50% from the company’s previous close.
Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $116.25 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Cascend Securities increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $81.25 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Apple currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $108.25.
Apple stock opened at $124.40 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $116.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a market cap of $2,156.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.31. Apple has a 52 week low of $53.15 and a 52 week high of $137.98.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 70.66% and a net margin of 21.33%. The business had revenue of $59.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.94 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 3.24 earnings per share for the current year.
In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 257,343 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.59, for a total transaction of $29,231,591.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 265,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.91, for a total value of $131,760,655.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $536,884,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 95,825,047 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,956,977,000 after buying an additional 2,448,814 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 64,178,586 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,290,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,496 shares during the last quarter. Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 113,515.1% in the second quarter. Laidlaw Wealth Management LLC now owns 40,356,072 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 40,320,552 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Apple by 18.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,941,525 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,850,960,000 after acquiring an additional 4,148,565 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.65% of the company’s stock.
Apple Company Profile
Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. It also sells various related services. 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, HomePod, iPod touch, and other Apple-branded and third-party accessories.
