Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $260.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target lifted by Melius Research from $227.00 to $260.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America restated a buy rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $214.29.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.25 on Monday. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $189.37 and a 200-day moving average of $184.94. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS 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 business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 23,076.4% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.