Maxim Group Reaffirms “Hold” Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Maxim Group reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $203.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America reissued a buy rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a neutral rating and a $211.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $238.62.

Apple Stock Up 0.0 %

AAPL opened at $222.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.