Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.7% Following Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price rose 0.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on the stock from $195.00 to $240.00. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $211.89 and last traded at $211.08. Approximately 34,509,039 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 63,345,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $209.68.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.38.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple 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 directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Apple by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.25. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $187.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.87.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.