Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 2% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was up 2% on Monday 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 $215.59 and last traded at $214.82. Approximately 15,502,775 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 64,837,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $210.62.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Melius Research upped their price target on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $192.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.31.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.