Apple (AAPL) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is scheduled to be releasing its earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, August 1st. Analysts expect Apple to post earnings of $1.33 per share for the quarter. Parties that are interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. On average, analysts expect Apple to post $7 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $218.80 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $211.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Melius Research lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $230.97.

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.