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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price boosted by Oppenheimer from $200.00 to $250.00 in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Oppenheimer currently has an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Melius Research boosted their price target on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. One investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $215.71.

Apple Stock Up 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $216.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $192.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $220.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value 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 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Childress Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 35.1% in the third quarter. Childress Capital Advisors LLC now owns 54,892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,398,000 after buying an additional 14,247 shares during the period. GYL Financial Synergies LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the third quarter. GYL Financial Synergies LLC now owns 213,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,527,000 after purchasing an additional 4,089 shares during the period. Guidance Point Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 9.7% during the third quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 6,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Ardent Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the third quarter. Ardent Capital Management Inc. now owns 146,059 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979 shares during the period. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the third quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 928,730 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $159,008,000 after purchasing an additional 26,402 shares during the period. 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.