Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) - Stock analysts at William Blair decreased their FY2017 EPS estimates for shares of Apple in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday. William Blair analyst A. Doradla now expects that the iPhone maker will post earnings per share of $9.04 for the year, down from their previous forecast of $9.06. William Blair also issued estimates for Apple’s Q4 2017 earnings at $1.92 EPS.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.10. Apple had a return on equity of 35.46% and a net margin of 20.87%. The business had revenue of $45.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis.
Several other research firms also recently commented on AAPL. Drexel Hamilton reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $202.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, July 6th. Instinet reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. Credit Suisse Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Finally, Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Apple has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.13.
Shares of Apple (AAPL) traded down 0.7863% during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $155.9044. The company had a trading volume of 8,230,601 shares. The firm has a market capitalization of $812.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.2901 and a beta of 1.31. Apple has a one year low of $102.53 and a one year high of $157.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $147.05 and a 200-day moving average of $142.60.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 14th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.64%.
In other news, SVP D Bruce Sewell sold 67,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.76, for a total value of $10,041,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 141,325 shares in the company, valued at $21,023,507. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Angela J. Ahrendts sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.98, for a total value of $11,098,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 154,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,806,085.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 373,000 shares of company stock valued at $56,497,046. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Sky Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $108,000. Hefty Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Apple by 27.6% in the second quarter. Hefty Wealth Partners now owns 804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $115,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. American Beacon Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth $117,000. Glacier Peak Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $127,000. Finally, Armbruster Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 9.4% in the second quarter. Armbruster Capital Management Inc. now owns 911 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.17% of the company’s stock.
About Apple
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.
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