Market Update (NASDAQ:AAPL): Apple And IBM To Start The New Year Together

[Benzinga] – Tech superpowers Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL ) and International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM ) announced plans to worth together in order to create business-oriented products by combining Apple’s expertise … Read more on this. Apple Inc. (AAPL) , currently valued at $599.89B, started trading this morning at $106.88. Looking at the equity, the company’s one day range is $106.88 to $107.78 with a trailing 52-week range being $92.00 to $134.54. AAPL shares are currently priced at 11.09x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 8.24x earnings multiple for the same period. And for passive income investors, the company pays shareholders $2.08 per share annually in dividends, yielding 1.93%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 40 sell-side analysts are looking at $3.25 per share, which would be $0.19 better than the year-ago quarter and a $0.06 sequential increase. Investors should also note that the full-year EPS estimate of $9.74 is a $0.52 better when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $77.10 Billion. If reported, that would be a 3.35% increase over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Wells Fargo upgraded AAPL from Market Perform to Outperform (Aug 25, 2015). Previously, BofA/Merrill downgraded AAPL from Buy to Neutral. The average price target for AAPL shares by the analysts covering it is $148.00, which is 38.47% above where the stock opened. See more in (NASDAQ:AAPL) Similar Articles: Market Update (NASDAQ:AAPL): Apple’s Big Problem With The Apple Watch Must Be Fixed Market Update: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Apple Ad Blocker No Worry For Ad Firms? Criteo Jumps Market Update: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) – A leaked video appears to show how IBM and Apple agreed on a massive Macbook deal