Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives $162.86 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Buy” by the fifty-five research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $162.52.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. UBS AG set a $151.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank AG reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 12th.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 1.21% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $152.09. The stock had a trading volume of 21,493,160 shares. The company’s 50 day moving average is $147.28 and its 200 day moving average is $141.20. The company has a market cap of $792.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.84 and a beta of 1.31. Apple has a 1-year low of $96.42 and a 1-year high of $156.65.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $52.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.61 billion. Apple had a net margin of 20.74% and a return on equity of 35.09%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post $8.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

In other news, insider Daniel J. Riccio sold 11,949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.86, for a total value of $1,707,034.14. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Angela J. Ahrendts sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.98, for a total value of $11,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 154,116 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,806,085.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 373,000 shares of company stock worth $56,497,046 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. HM Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 3.1% in the second quarter. HM Capital Management LLC now owns 3,664 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $528,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Greylin Investment Mangement Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 15.9% in the second quarter. Greylin Investment Mangement Inc. now owns 4,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $576,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP increased its stake in Apple by 13.1% in the second quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 27,826 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,008,000 after buying an additional 3,214 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA increased its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Berkshire Asset Management LLC PA now owns 18,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,651,000 after buying an additional 1,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of Omaha Bank Wealth Management increased its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the second quarter. Mutual of Omaha Bank Wealth Management now owns 28,312 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,077,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. 61.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings.