Apple’s (AAPL) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at UBS Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at UBS Group in a research note issued on Wednesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. They presently have a $236.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 2.51% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Cfra increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $3.62 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $230.23. 16,625,564 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 60,255,410. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $224.59 and its 200 day moving average is $207.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $140,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.