Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Announces Earnings Results

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

AAPL stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.60. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.00.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in 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 generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Company Profile

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.