Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Evercore ISI restated a buy rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $234.29.

Apple Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $2.93 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $216.24. 42,201,646 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 63,734,754. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.04. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 179,999 shares of company stock valued at $35,964,310 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 23,076.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.