Apple’s (AAPL) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $250.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a hold rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. DZ Bank restated a hold rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America raised Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $204.11.

Apple Trading Up 6.0 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.67.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share 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 repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given 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 (DPR) is presently 14.93%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Headinvest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its stake 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 holdings in Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $115,284,000 after purchasing an additional 24,634 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.