Wedbush Increases Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $275.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Wedbush from $250.00 to $275.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Wedbush’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 44.75% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AAPL. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price objective (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.44.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $189.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.55, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $175.89 and its 200-day moving average is $183.04. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock 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 reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock valued at $64,605,696. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.