Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns Neutral Rating from Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies restated their neutral rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Piper Sandler Companies currently has a $225.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their previous target price of $190.00.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $218.43.

Apple Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $227.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.39, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $233.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cambridge Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.9% during the second quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. now owns 39,677 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,357,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 129,549 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510 shares during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 130,610 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,509,000 after buying an additional 816 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $107,056,000. Finally, BDF Gestion purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $90,886,000. 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.