Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares Supported By Citi’s Analyst

 Citigroup, which has put a Buy rating on Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) stock, put together a whole team in order to launch coverage on the company.

According to Street Insider "To launch coverage on Apple, Citigroup put together a team lead by Glen Yeung (Semiconductors), but with co-coverage by Walter Pritchard (Software) and Jim Suva (Hardware)."

Citigroup said the team approach "reflects Apple's broad impact to the technology supply chain and allows us to uniquely follow the company from several industry angles."

Apple is a stock that has seen a consistent Buy rating across most analysts and brokerage houses though recently some research outfits have raised questions about the long-term revenue growth of the company.

The recent sell-off in Apple shares is no cause for concern according to Citi, which feels that it is in conformity with its own stock history as well as that of its peers.

"Our analysis shows that Apple shares have corrected consistent with the average correction in its own history, with companies that have achieved 4 percent of the S&P500, and with companies that have shown similar deceleration," Citi notes.

"Historically, such corrections are followed by 20 percent-50 percent appreciation in the following 12 months."

Citi has set a price target of $675 for the stock - which about 11 percent below the Street consensus. The main reason for this lower value is due to the risks that the company will face from competition, changes in the market paradigm as well as pressure on profitability.

On Apple's iPads, Citi says, “We expect tablet penetration to reach 14 percent in 2015, well above third party forecasts of 10 percent, and leading to an 18 percent CAGR for iPad 2012-2015, above these same 3rd parties' estimates."

Shares of AAPL were up 3.15% to $589.53 in Monday’s session.