Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $196.00 price target (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an outperform rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $204.00.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $10.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $183.38. The stock had a trading volume of 163,224,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $172.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Apple will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.93%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth 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 period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings 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. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.