Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given “Outperform” Rating at Wedbush

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $275.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the subject of several other reports. Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $225.00 target price (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $218.43.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.57 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.27. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $233.08. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Pacific Center for Financial Services boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pacific Center for Financial Services now owns 30,777 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,269,000 after purchasing an additional 455 shares during the period. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter. Spouting Rock Asset Management LLC now owns 50,168 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,589,000 after purchasing an additional 4,986 shares during the period. Maripau Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 72.5% in the 3rd quarter. Maripau Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,613,000 after purchasing an additional 3,960 shares during the period. Finally, Greenwood Gearhart Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 272,631 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $46,679,000 after acquiring an additional 5,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% 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.