Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns Outperform Rating from Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $250.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wedbush lifted their price target on Apple from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective 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. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a neutral rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, July 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $237.30.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $229.79 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.74, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $221.05 and its 200 day moving average is $195.24. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 168.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 268 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.