Monness Crespi & Hardt Boosts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $205.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target boosted by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $200.00 to $205.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Loop Capital lowered their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Redburn Partners lowered Apple to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays reiterated an underweight rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $181.71 on Friday. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50 day moving average of $172.18 and a 200-day moving average of $181.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.93%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, 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 transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $35,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by 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.