Oppenheimer Increases Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $250.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) had its target price boosted by Oppenheimer from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the iPhone maker's stock.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a buy rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $3.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $210.62. 82,481,323 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 65,234,191. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.46.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Apple will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock 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 reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were 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 owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management lifted its position in Apple by 0.9% in 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 last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.7% in 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 last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation lifted its position in Apple by 1.0% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 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.