<div id="readability-page-1"><p><span>Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)</span>'s stock had its &#34;hold&#34; rating reissued by analysts at Needham &amp; Company LLC in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports.</p><ul><li>3 Stocks Flying Under the S&amp;P 500 Radar</li></ul><p>Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson raised their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a &#34;buy&#34; rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi &amp; Hardt raised their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a &#34;buy&#34; rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group  restated a &#34;hold&#34; rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group  reaffirmed a &#34;buy&#34; rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an &#34;outperform&#34; rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued  a hold rating, sixteen have issued  a buy rating and two have assigned  a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of &#34;Moderate Buy&#34; and an average price target of $235.11.</p><p><b>View Our Latest Analysis on Apple</b></p><h2>Apple Stock Performance</h2><ul><li>Top Stocks Powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution</li></ul><p>Apple stock opened at $213.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $204.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $214.96. Apple has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. </p><p>Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share.  As a group, analysts anticipate that  Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year. </p><ul><li>Forget the Hype—TSMC Is the AI Stock That Actually Delivers</li></ul><p>Apple declared 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  outstanding  shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued. </p><h2>Insider Activity</h2><p>In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities &amp; Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders. </p><h2>Institutional Inflows and Outflows</h2><p>Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its stake in shares of  Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period.  Norges Bank purchased a new stake in  Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000.  Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in  Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000.  GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in  Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period.  Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in  Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own  67.73% of the company's stock. </p><h2>About Apple</h2> (Get Free Report)<p>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.</p><h2>Featured Articles</h2><ul><li>Five stocks we like better than Apple</li><li>Dividend King Proctor &amp; Gamble Is A Buy On Post-Earnings Weakness </li><li>Why Freeport-McMoRan Stock May Hit a New High After Earnings Beat</li><li>The 3 Best Retail Stocks to Shop for in August</li><li>Congress Is Dumping These 5 Stocks—Should You Follow?</li><li>EV Stocks and How to Profit from Them </li><li>GE Vernova's Q2 Electrifies Stock, What's Next For This Top Name?</li></ul><p><img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/RatingsAndPriceTargetChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9QUFQTA?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="650" height="330" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/RatingsAndPriceTargetChart.ashx/query-UHJlZml4PU5BU0RBUSZTeW1ib2w9QUFQTA"/></p><p><em>This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.</em></p><h2>Should You Invest $1,000 in Apple Right Now?</h2><p>Before you consider Apple, you'll want to hear this.</p><p>MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Apple wasn't on the list.</p><p>While Apple currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.</p><p>View The Five Stocks Here</p>                  </div>

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<p>Needham & Company LLC has reaffirmed a "hold" rating on Apple (AAPL) shares. Analysts have varied opinions, with DA Davidson raising the price target to $250 and maintaining a "buy" rating, while UBS and others have reiterated hold ratings. Apple stock opened at $213.76, with a market cap of $3.19 trillion and a P/E ratio of 33.30. The company recently announced a $100 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in its valuation. Insider trading activity and significant institutional investments were also noted.</p>

- Analysts at Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), while other firms have varied in their ratings and price targets.  
- Apple reported quarterly earnings of $1.65 EPS, exceeding estimates, with revenue of $95.36 billion, reflecting a 5.1% year-over-year increase.  
- The company announced a $100 billion stock buyback plan, indicating confidence in its stock value, while institutional investors hold 67.73% of shares.

Apple's (AAPL) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC