Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $245.52.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup increased their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $223.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.