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

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 2% on Wednesday after Rosenblatt Securities upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. Rosenblatt Securities now has a $260.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $196.00. Apple traded as high as $213.43 and last traded at $213.18. 17,405,223 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 64,819,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $209.07.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.29.

Insider Transactions at Apple

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 transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $189.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.