Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT Raised to $215.00 at Canaccord Genuity Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective raised by Canaccord Genuity Group from $200.00 to $215.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group began coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a hold rating and a $178.00 price target for the company. DZ Bank restated a hold rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays upped their price target on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.11.

Apple Trading Down 0.9 %

Apple stock opened at $181.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $172.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 278,379 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $47,736,000 after acquiring an additional 75,939 shares in the last quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Motive Wealth Advisors now owns 13,516 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 5,407 shares during the period. Deuterium Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 66.7% in the first quarter. Deuterium Capital Management LLC now owns 45,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,717,000 after purchasing an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. YCG LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 14.5% in the first quarter. YCG LLC now owns 196,487 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,485,000 after purchasing an additional 24,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 23.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 725,071 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $124,335,000 after acquiring an additional 138,386 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.