Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given New $245.00 Price Target at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective hoisted by Monness Crespi & Hardt to $245.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Stock Target Advisor reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup restated a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

AAPL opened at $202.67 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $200.71 and a 200-day moving average of $223.77. Apple has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Weaver Consulting Group lifted its position in Apple by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 36,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,464,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.1% during the third quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,388 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,886,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 10.7% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 351,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $81,865,000 after buying an additional 34,097 shares during the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 16.6% in the third quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 3,091,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $720,220,000 after acquiring an additional 439,519 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 21.2% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,332,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $543,502,000 after acquiring an additional 407,813 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

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.