Apple’s (AAPL) Buy Rating Reiterated at TD Cowen

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by TD Cowen in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $6.67 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $236.53. 13,507,681 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,827,965. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $240.93 and a 200 day moving average of $230.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Independence Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $245,000. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Apple by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 34,768 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,707,000 after acquiring an additional 4,844 shares in the last quarter. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1,994.6% during the 4th quarter. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd now owns 2,513,483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $636,606,000 after purchasing an additional 2,393,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Apple by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 2,079,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $520,647,000 after purchasing an additional 149,471 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.