Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Cut to Hold at DZ Bank

DZ Bank downgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have $310.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on AAPL. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 5th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $330.44.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $312.41 on Tuesday. Apple has a 12 month low of $216.58 and a 12 month high of $344.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $309.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $283.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.57 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 16.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: App Store revenue rose 0.6% year over year to $3.4 billion during the first 35 days of Apple’s fiscal fourth quarter, despite a 4% decline in iPhone and iPad downloads. Revenue per download increased 4.7% to $1.02, suggesting stronger monetization and supporting the Services business. Apple App Store revenue ticks up despite falling downloads
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s fiscal third-quarter revenue reached a June-quarter record of $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, while earnings exceeded estimates. Reports also point to broad iPhone, Mac and Services demand, resilient iPhone sales and continued growth in India, providing a fundamental counterweight to recent market concerns. Apple’s Quarterly iPhone Sales Were Even Better Than They Seem
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and market commentators continue to recommend buying the pullback, arguing that Apple’s ecosystem, product pipeline and long-term earnings potential remain attractive despite near-term volatility. 3 Reasons to Buy Apple Stock on the Dip
• Neutral Sentiment: OpenAI asked a federal judge to dismiss Apple’s trade-secrets lawsuit, denying that it misappropriated confidential information through former Apple employees. The filing creates legal and reputational uncertainty, although the financial impact is not yet clear. OpenAI asks US judge to dismiss Apple’s trade secrets case
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts at Phillip Securities, DZ Bank and China Renaissance lowered their views on Apple to Moderate Sell or Hold. Concerns include slowing Services growth, elevated memory costs, supply constraints, policy risks and Apple’s premium valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Services revenue grew about 12% to $30.7 billion, making it the slowest-growing of Apple’s three largest businesses. Tim Cook also warned that rising memory prices could pressure margins, while the CEO transition adds uncertainty after a record quarter. Tim Cook’s Last Quarter as CEO

About Apple

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.