Apple's (AAPL) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $250.00 target price on the iPhone maker's stock.

AAPL has been the subject of several other research reports. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $195.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a hold rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $3.23 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $186.28. 72,001,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 62,054,824. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $172.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.01. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. Apple's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple's payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.