Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to Repurchase $100.00 billion in Outstanding Shares

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Maxim Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Raymond James cut their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 3.1 %

AAPL stock traded down $6.41 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $198.94. 17,033,663 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,049,364. Apple has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% 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.