Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Cut to “Moderate Sell” at Phillip Securities

Phillip Securities lowered shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a hold rating to a moderate sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Zacks reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $380.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Apple from $370.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Yorkville Ives began coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $400.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 target price (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $343.74.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

AAPL stock traded down $1.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $342.37. The company had a trading volume of 44,660,992 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,928,536. Apple has a 52 week low of $243.42 and a 52 week high of $355.38. The company has a market cap of $5.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.17, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $336.01 and a 200 day moving average of $298.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 27.60% and a return on equity of 128.88%. The business had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.85 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 9.70 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.04%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Timothy D. Cook sold 191,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total transaction of $63,846,078.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,264,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,086,837,377.28. This represents a 5.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total value of $8,460,671.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 59,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,832,236.98. This represents a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 291,651 shares of company stock valued at $97,082,537. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Rasp Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 22.3% during the third quarter. Rasp Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 9,598 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,196,000 after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the period. MSH Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.3% in the third quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC now owns 194,258 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $64,661,000 after buying an additional 11,582 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.9% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 154,374 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $51,410,000 after buying an additional 39,931 shares during the period. Shah Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 16.8% in the third quarter. Shah Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 23,079 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,686,000 after buying an additional 3,315 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Grp LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Grp LLC now owns 23,948 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple beat fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue estimates, with solid iPhone and Mac demand. Apple also says more apps optimized for its new foldable iPhone are coming, potentially improving the product’s appeal. Apple earnings beat
• Positive Sentiment: Apple has held up better than many chipmakers amid the AI-stock sell-off, and Bernstein raised its price target to $380 while maintaining a Buy rating. This relative strength may support investor sentiment. Apple holds up amid market weakness
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly seeking about $7.5 billion through a bond offering. The financing provides flexibility, though the reports do not specify its use. The company is also limiting some employees’ AI-tool budgets, a move that could help control costs but raises questions about its internal AI investment. Apple bond sale report
• Negative Sentiment: Management warned of unprecedented memory-chip costs and supply constraints heading into the holiday quarter, putting gross margins at risk despite healthy demand. Investors are also weighing slower Services growth and Apple’s premium valuation. Memory costs and supply constraints

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS.

The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple’s devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world.

Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.