Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was upgraded by stock analysts at Mizuho to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, AnalystRatingsNetwork.com reports.

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.08, for a total value of $3,662,400.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 90,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.48, for a total value of $10,914,644.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 6.57% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.42. 132,180,762 shares of the company traded hands. The firm has a market capitalization of $520.85 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $104.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.41. Apple has a 52 week low of $92.00 and a 52 week high of $134.54.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 26th. The iPhone maker reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $3.23 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $75.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.10 billion. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.06 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple will post $9.48 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%.

Several other research firms have also commented on AAPL. Independent Research GmbH set a $136.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 28th. Citigroup Inc. restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 11th. Piper Jaffray upgraded shares of Apple from an “average” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $110.78 to $172.00 in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Apple from $155.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, forty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $137.22.

Several hedge funds have bought and sold shares of AAPL. Clean Yield Group boosted its stake in Apple by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 81,086 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,102,000 after buying an additional 3,486 shares during the last quarter. James Investment Research Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. James Investment Research Inc. now owns 425,260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $44,763,000 after buying an additional 11,034 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Evans & Crocker Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Winslow Evans & Crocker Inc. now owns 55,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,859,000 after buying an additional 2,644 shares during the last quarter. Glenview State Bank Trust DEPT. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Glenview State Bank Trust DEPT. now owns 72,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,639,000 after buying an additional 752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Convector Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $8,884,000.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings. The Company also delivers digital content and applications through the iTunes Store, App StoreSM, iBookstoreSM, and Mac App Store. The Company distributes its products worldwide through its retail stores, online stores, and direct sales force, as well as through third-party cellular network carriers, wholesalers, retailers, and value-added resellers. In February 2012, the Company acquired app-search engine Chomp.

12 Month Chart for NASDAQ:AAPL

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