Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Rating Upgraded by Itau BBA Securities

Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $188.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $162.00.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday. DZ Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies lowered Apple to a neutral rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $181.71 on Friday. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.72.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.93%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th 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. Global Assets Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,815,594,000 after acquiring an additional 5,331,439 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.