Brokerages Set Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Target Price at $208.06

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $209.38.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its holdings in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $207.49 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.25. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $187.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.