Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 1.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price rose 1.7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $216.00 to $273.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $237.23 and last traded at $234.49. Approximately 19,090,168 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 64,269,301 shares. The stock had previously closed at $230.54.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $223.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Foresight Capital Management Advisors Inc. now owns 19,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,003,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP raised its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Planning Corporation raised its holdings in Apple by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 2.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $203.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.47, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback 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 typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.