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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective raised by Monness Crespi & Hardt to $245.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Apple stock opened at $199.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $201.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.37.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 67.73% 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.