Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports.
AAPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays reissued an underweight rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and raised their target price for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a buy rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $207.47.
View Our Latest Analysis on Apple
Apple Stock Down 0.8 %
Shares of Apple stock traded down $1.75 on Friday, hitting $212.49. The company had a trading volume of 70,047,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 63,014,645. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $182.91 and a 200-day moving average of $183.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.55%.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Activity at Apple
In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company's stock.
About Apple
(Get Free Report)
Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.
Featured Stories
- Five stocks we like better than Apple
- Election Stocks: How Elections Affect the Stock Market
- Top 5 High-Performance Cryptocurrency ETFs to Watch
- Consumer Discretionary Stocks Explained
- 3 Stocks That Plummeted After the Post-Fed Speech Crash
- Should You Add These Warren Buffett Stocks to Your Portfolio?
- Adobe Stock: It’s Not Too Late To Buy The Dip
→ only trade options on these 5-7 stocks (From Prosper Trading Academy) (Ad)
Should you invest $1,000 in Apple right now?
Before you consider Apple, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Apple wasn't on the list.
While Apple currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
13 Stocks Institutional Investors Won't Stop Buying
Which stocks are major institutional investors including hedge funds and endowments buying in today's market? Click the link below and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of thirteen stocks that institutional investors are buying up as quickly as they can.
Get This Free Report
