Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Wedbush

Wedbush reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $325.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.14.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

AAPL opened at $223.66 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.77. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.