Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Wedbush

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by equities researchers at Wedbush in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $275.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Wedbush’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 19.29% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AAPL. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.43.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $230.54 on Thursday. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $233.08. The company has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $203.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.52. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st 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 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.