Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT Raised to $215.00 at Canaccord Genuity Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price boosted by Canaccord Genuity Group from $200.00 to $215.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on AAPL. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Redburn Partners downgraded Apple to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Maxim Group started coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a hold rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.11.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $172.17 and its 200-day moving average is $181.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Headinvest LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,284,000 after purchasing an additional 24,634 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.