Apple’s (AAPL) Outperform Rating Reiterated at Wedbush

Wedbush reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $285.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Raymond James upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple from $195.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $238.62.

Apple Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $222.66 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $223.19 and a 200 day moving average of $198.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.63, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Summit Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,903 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.3% during the second quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 79,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,830,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth $563,000. Brightwater Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,360,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $18,707,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.