Apple's (AAPL) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial reaffirmed Apple’s stock rating as "outperform," increasing the target price to $240.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.76% from the current price.
• Apple reported earnings of $1.57 per share, surpassing estimates of $1.43, with a revenue of $94.04 billion for the most recent quarter, marking a 9.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company has launched a $100 billion share buyback program, reflecting confidence that the stock is undervalued.

Raymond James Financial reissued their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in a research note released on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $240.00 target price on the iPhone maker's stock, up from their prior target price of $230.00.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday. China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.25.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $203.35. The company had a trading volume of 74,983,799 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,129,035. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm's fifty day moving average is $205.37 and its 200 day moving average is $213.50.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its stake in Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC increased its stake in Apple by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

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.