Stock Update (NASDAQ:AAPL): Chinese smartphone makers take on Apple & Samsung with patents

[at MarketWatch] – Chinese technology companies are acquiring patents to challenge the smartphone dominance of Apple and Samsung. Read more on this. Apple Inc. (AAPL) , valued at $527.72B, opened this morning at $96.01. Today’s price range has been between $96.00 and $96.57 per share and has traded between $89.47 and $132.97 over the past year. AAPL shares are currently priced at 11.53x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively inexpensive compared to the industry’s 15.04x earnings multiple for the same period. The company pays shareholders $2.28 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.39%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 37 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $1.39 per share, which would be $0.46 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.38 sequential decrease. The full-year EPS estimate is $8.27, which would be a $0.95 better than last year. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $42.39 Billion. If realized, that would be a 14.54% decrease over the year-ago quarter. More recently, Needham Initiated AAPL at Strong Buy (Apr 6, 2016). Previously, Cowen upgraded AAPL from Market Perform to Outperform. Investors should keep in mind is that the average price target is $124.79, which is 29.98% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NASDAQ:AAPL) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Samsung Might Beat Apple To Bendable Phones, But Not In Galaxy Line Stock Update: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Now Samsung is following Apple by allowing mobile ad blockers for the first time Company Update (NASDAQ:AAPL): Here are the Albany banks that offer Apple, Samsung, Android Pay