Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price shot up 0.2% on Friday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $250.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $216.07 and last traded at $214.48. 15,950,208 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 64,689,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $214.10.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 17.9% during the first 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 last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $192.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.46.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.