Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price was up 2% during trading on Monday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $250.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $215.59 and last traded at $214.82. Approximately 15,502,775 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 64,837,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $210.62.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in Apple by 4.6% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 249,461 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,710,000 after buying an additional 10,955 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,020,415 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $174,705,000 after acquiring an additional 21,458 shares in the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 535,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $91,603,000 after acquiring an additional 26,218 shares during the period. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 39,969 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $193.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.