Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $173.03, but opened at $186.65. Apple shares last traded at $184.13, with a volume of 55,547,421 shares.

The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.93%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 price objective (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Redburn Partners lowered Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. McBroom & Associates LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 36,369 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,227,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Essex LLC lifted its position in Apple by 13.1% during the 3rd quarter. Essex LLC now owns 32,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,548,000 after acquiring an additional 3,755 shares during the period. ETF Portfolio Partners Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. ETF Portfolio Partners Inc. now owns 10,260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Shore Point Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Shore Point Advisors LLC now owns 6,375 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 396,182 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $67,830,000 after acquiring an additional 8,803 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 6.0 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26.

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.