Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $225.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective upped by Piper Sandler from $190.00 to $225.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Evercore ISI reissued a buy rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, July 4th. Morgan Stanley restated an overweight rating and set a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $218.43.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $227.57 on Tuesday. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $233.08. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale 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 company’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 sale, the director now directly 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 23,076.4% during the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after buying an additional 9,200,345 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.