Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives Outperform Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on AAPL. Bank of America upgraded Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered shares of Apple to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $204.11.

Apple Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $181.71 on Friday. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The business’s fifty day moving average is $172.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arcus Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.8% during the third quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,181 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,599,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 5.6% during the third quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,738,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 900.1% during the third quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC now owns 295,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $50,602,000 after buying an additional 266,003 shares in the last quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 10.9% in the third quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. now owns 36,478 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,245,000 after buying an additional 3,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,651,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.