Evercore ISI Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Evercore ISI reissued their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research note released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Piper Sandler Companies reissued a neutral rating and issued a $225.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $239.17.

Apple Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $220.69 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $222.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.41. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. 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 owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Company Profile

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.