Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT Raised to $255.00 at Citigroup

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $210.00 to $255.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Apple from $164.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. DA Davidson raised Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $234.29.

Apple Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $209.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $213.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.35. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share 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 buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,531,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067,587 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is 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.