Rosenblatt Securities Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Rosenblatt Securities reiterated their neutral rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $196.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their previous target price of $189.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on AAPL. Piper Sandler Companies downgraded Apple to a neutral rating and decreased their target price for the company from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group reiterated a hold rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays reiterated an underweight rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $204.00.

Apple Trading Up 6.0 %

Shares of Apple stock traded up $10.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $183.38. 163,224,109 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $172.15 and a 200-day moving average of $181.57. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.93%.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.