Karee Venema, Schaeffer’s Investment Research via Yahoo Finance:
Maxim downgraded Apple Inc. stock to “sell” from “hold,” and established a $190 price target on the tech shares — a 28% discount to last night’s close. The brokerage firm also forecast a 5% year-over-year drop in iPhone revenue and a 2% annual decline in total operating profits, and labeled expectations the tech giant could transform the healthcare industry as “unrealistic.”
Looking to Apple’s options pits, total volume is running at 1.2 times what’s typically seen at this point, with roughly 221,000 puts and 192,000 calls on the tape so far. Options bears have targeted the November 262.50 and weekly 11/22 265-strike puts, with new positions being purchased to bet on a bigger retreat for the Dow stock over the next six sessions.
The November 265 call, meanwhile, is AAPL’s most active option today, and it looks like speculators may be buying to open the contracts for a volume-weighted average price of $0.90. If this is the case, breakeven for the call buyers at the close tomorrow, Nov. 15, is $265.90 (strike plus premium paid).
MacDailyNews Note: Apple’s dividend is payable today, November 14, 2019 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on November 11, 2019.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Arline M.” for the heads up.]