Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given Buy Rating at Bank of America

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Bank of America in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $230.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 7.56% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.29.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.76 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $213.83. The company had a trading volume of 34,308,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 64,958,238. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $189.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $184.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Apple will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. Company 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 AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its position in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.