Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Key Points

• Bank of America has increased its price target for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from $235.00 to $240.00, indicating a potential upside of 15.62% from the current stock price.
• Despite the positive outlook from Bank of America, other firms have issued varying ratings, with Scotiabank downgrading to "market perform" and Barclays setting a price target of $173.00.
• Apple is initiating a $100 billion share buyback program, signaling confidence in its stock value amid robust quarterly earnings, with reported revenue of $94.04 billion.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) had its price objective lifted by Bank of America from $235.00 to $240.00 in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker's stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on AAPL. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.25.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $5.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $202.38. 97,423,066 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 44,912,472. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50-day moving average of $205.37 and a 200 day moving average of $213.60. Apple has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 172.48% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently 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.