Apple’s (AAPL) “Underweight” Rating Reiterated at Barclays

Barclays reissued their underweight rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Tuesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. Barclays currently has a $158.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup restated a buy rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $169.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $173.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.79.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. raised its position in Apple by 5.5% during the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in Apple by 13.6% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after acquiring an additional 20,737 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Apple by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in Apple by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.