Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $205.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective hoisted by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $200.00 to $205.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on AAPL. Maxim Group initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a hold rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a neutral rating and issued a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $10.35 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $183.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 163,224,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.57. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 14.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’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 directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’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 directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted 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 worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted 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 acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% 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.