Wedbush Reaffirms "Outperform" Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $270.00 target price on the iPhone maker's stock.

AAPL has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.27.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $212.41. 44,333,520 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,446,789. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $203.27 and a 200 day moving average of $217.73. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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

Insider Activity 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,045,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Allstate Corp boosted its position in Apple by 3,368.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Finally, Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in Apple by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $192,700,000 after buying an additional 83,997 shares during the period. 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.