Barclays Raises Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $187.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price increased by Barclays from $164.00 to $187.00 in a research note published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Piper Sandler Companies restated a neutral rating and set a $225.00 price objective (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Wedbush reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Apple from $238.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $230.09.

Apple Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $217.96 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $210.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.10. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.90, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.24. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Brown Financial Advisory grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Core Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,003,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Altus Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,508 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,002,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.