Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares rose 2% during trading on Monday after Oppenheimer raised their price target on the stock from $200.00 to $250.00. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $215.59 and last traded at $214.82. Approximately 15,502,775 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 64,837,020 shares. The stock had previously closed at $210.62.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Melius Research increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price target on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $192.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.