Apple’s (AAPL) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $285.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on AAPL. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America reiterated a buy rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reiterated a neutral rating and set a $225.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $238.62.

Apple Stock Up 0.0 %

AAPL stock opened at $220.91 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $223.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.62. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.