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

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $212.92 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their previous price target of $205.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wedbush reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a neutral rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Finally, Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $239.27.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.04 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $223.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $205.14. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares in the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 132.8% during the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $4,782,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.