Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Lowered to Underperform Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was downgraded by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. They presently have a $200.75 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock, down from their previous price target of $211.84. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 12.71% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.17.

Apple Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.98 on Tuesday. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average of $241.01 and a 200-day moving average of $230.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.