Apple's (AAPL) "Outperform" Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating restated by investment analysts at Wedbush in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $270.00 price objective on the iPhone maker's stock. Wedbush's price objective points to a potential upside of 28.56% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 0.7%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $210.02. 15,443,674 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,777,288. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $206.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $226.84.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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