Market Update (NASDAQ:AAPL): Apple says debate over encryption should be decided by Congress

[Reuters] – Senior Apple executives said on Friday that the right place to find a solution to the encryption debate was in the U.S. Congress, rebuffing the Justice Department’s successful pursuit of a court order to unlock an iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino shooters. The executives, speaking to reporters on a press call, said they were stunned that the request to write software code to disable the passcode protections on the phone was happening in the United States and not another country with lesser traditions of privacy and civil liberties. Read more on this. Apple Inc. (AAPL) , valued at $532.50B, started trading this morning at $96.00. Shares have traded today between $95.80 and $96.76 per share and has traded between $92.00 and $134.54 over the past year. AAPL shares are currently priced at 10.60x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry ’s 5.51x forward p/e ratio. And for those looking to make a return holding the stock , the company pays shareholders $2.08 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.15%. In a review of the consensus earnings estimate this quarter, 37 sell-side analysts are looking at $2.00 per share, which would be $0.33 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.46 sequential decrease. In looking at the bigger picture, the full-year EPS estimate of $9.08 would be a $0.14 worse when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $52.04 Billion. If realized, that would be a 10.29% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, BofA/Merrill upgraded AAPL from Neutral to Buy (Jan 12, 2016). Previously, Mizuho upgraded AAPL from Neutral to Buy. With the above information in mind, readers should note that the average price target is $135.92, which is 41.58% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:AAPL) Similar Articles: Company Update: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) – As Apple shares sink, Alphabet closes in on its market cap Market Update: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Will 2016 Be the Year Apple Music Takes Off? Market Update (NASDAQ:AAPL): Apple’s Big Problem With The Apple Watch Must Be Fixed