Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given Overweight Rating at Morgan Stanley

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "overweight" rating restated by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $216.00 price objective on the iPhone maker's stock. Morgan Stanley's target price indicates a potential upside of 11.14% from the company's current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush boosted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Apple from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $195.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $196.00 price target (up previously from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.59.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $194.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 45,372,856 shares, compared to its average volume of 60,391,727. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $178.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.28. 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 has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.23, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. Apple's revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.3% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 24,868 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,436,000 after buying an additional 786 shares during the period. Smith Salley & Associates increased its stake in shares of Apple by 5.7% during the third quarter. Smith Salley & Associates now owns 459,408 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $78,655,000 after buying an additional 24,620 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the third quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 405,212 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $69,376,000 after buying an additional 17,712 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the third quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 145,366 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,888,000 after buying an additional 4,089 shares during the period. Finally, Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the third quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 201,368 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,476,000 after buying an additional 2,327 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.