Evercore ISI Raises Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $250.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target lifted by Evercore ISI from $220.00 to $250.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Melius Research raised their price target on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. DZ Bank reiterated a hold rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $214.29.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $214.10 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $190.27 and its 200 day moving average is $185.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $220.20. The stock has a market cap of $3.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 23,076.4% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after buying an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.