Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Wedbush

Wedbush restated their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $285.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Melius Research reiterated a buy rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI restated an outperform rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $238.62.

Apple Trading Up 1.2 %

AAPL opened at $222.66 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $223.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.