Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.8% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shot up 0.8% during trading on Tuesday after Rosenblatt Securities upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. Rosenblatt Securities now has a $260.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $196.00. Apple traded as high as $211.38 and last traded at $209.86. 14,850,307 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 64,865,559 shares. The stock had previously closed at $208.14.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AAPL. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.29.

Insider Transactions at Apple

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation grew its position in Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.0 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $189.37 and its 200 day moving average is $184.94. 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 market cap of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.