Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Lowered to “Hold” at Loop Capital

Loop Capital cut shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $180.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on AAPL. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $180.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Evercore ISI restated an outperform rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, March 5th. They issued a buy rating and a $199.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $174.74.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $172.99 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.40. Apple has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $176.39.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Apple will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.30%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to buyback $90.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,052 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $541,766,188.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares in the company, valued at approximately $541,766,188.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 116,483.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after buying an additional 25,926,552 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.3% during the first quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 915,560,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $150,975,907,000 after buying an additional 20,424,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 16,638.6% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,593,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $94,566,000 after buying an additional 15,500,812 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.