Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Rating Increased to Buy at Rosenblatt Securities

Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have $260.00 target price on the iPhone maker's stock, up from their previous target price of $196.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America restated a buy rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $214.29.

Apple Trading Up 2.0 %

Apple stock traded up $4.18 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $213.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 66,112,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 65,218,703. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $220.20. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $189.37 and a 200-day moving average of $184.94. The stock has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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 transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 54,732 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management boosted its stake 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 boosted its stake 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 boosted its stake 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 boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.