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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective increased by Wedbush from $250.00 to $275.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a buy rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Maxim Group started coverage on Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a hold rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an outperform rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $205.44.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $189.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $183.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock worth $64,605,696 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management increased its position in Apple by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation increased its position in Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.