Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Lowered to Neutral Rating by Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $217.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 3.7 %

Apple stock opened at $205.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $212.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.58. Apple has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. 67.73% 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.