Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $177.00 to $182.00 in a research report released on Monday, July 17th, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.
AAPL has been the topic of several other research reports. UBS AG upped their target price on Apple from $165.00 to $200.00 in a report on Sunday, April 2nd. Bank of America Corporation reiterated a buy rating and set a $180.00 target price (up previously from $155.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 12th. Mizuho reiterated a buy rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) set a $170.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Saturday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a market perform rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, April 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $167.57.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) opened at 156.39 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $808.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 1.31. Apple has a one year low of $102.53 and a one year high of $157.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $147.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.60.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.10. Apple had a return on equity of 35.40% 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple will post $9.00 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 10th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.64%.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.88, for a total transaction of $5,385,800.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,168,283 shares in the company, valued at $179,775,388.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Johny Srouji sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.20, for a total transaction of $1,532,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 96,738 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,820,261.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 230,500 shares of company stock worth $35,357,246. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Blue Sky Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at $108,000. Hefty Wealth Partners increased its position in Apple by 27.6% in the second quarter. Hefty Wealth Partners now owns 804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. American Beacon Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at $117,000. Private Vista LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at $122,000. Finally, Glacier Peak Capital LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $127,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.13% of the company’s stock.
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.
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