Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Wednesday. The firm currently has a $175.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their prior price target of $165.00. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.
Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) reissued a buy rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 12th. UBS AG set a $151.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 4th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a neutral rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, April 17th. FBN Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, May 4th.
Finally, Deutsche Bank AG reissued a hold rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 6th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $167.57.
Apple (AAPL) opened at 156.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $808.50 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $147.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.60. Apple has a 1-year low of $102.53 and a 1-year high of $157.40.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.10. Apple had a net margin of 20.87% and a return on equity of 35.40%. The company had revenue of $45.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple will post $9.00 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th will be given a $0.63 dividend. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 28.64%.
Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 6.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.88, for a total value of $5,385,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,168,283 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,775,388.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Also, insider Angela J. Ahrendts sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.98, for a total transaction of $11,098,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 154,116 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,806,085.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 305,500 shares of company stock valued at $46,455,746 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. FC Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the second quarter. FC Advisory LLC now owns 2,576 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 10 shares during the last quarter. Stonehearth Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the first quarter.
Stonehearth Capital Management LLC now owns 2,378 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the second quarter. BerganKDV Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $809,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Lenox Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the second quarter. Lenox Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,971 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter.
Finally, Noven Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Noven Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,396 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $857,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 61.17% of the company’s stock.
By: Cynthia Hall (The Olympia Report).
Photo: Investopedia.
Review: Emerging Market Formulations & Research Unit, Flagship Records.