Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was upgraded by investment analysts at BidaskClub from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.
A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on AAPL. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 7th. Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 5th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 5th. Finally, Macquarie reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $197.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, thirty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $206.89.
Get Apple alerts:Shares of Apple stock traded down $0.10 during trading on Monday, reaching $188.74. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 18,458,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 33,512,844. The stock has a market capitalization of $958.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.49, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.29. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $142.28 and a fifty-two week high of $194.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 1.37.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.69 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $61.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.94 billion. Apple had a net margin of 21.55% and a return on equity of 39.97%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. analysts anticipate that Apple will post 11.42 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 11.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
In other news, insider Luca Maestri sold 4,769 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $189.54, for a total transaction of $903,916.26. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 68,044 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,897,059.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 15,653 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.18, for a total transaction of $2,898,622.54. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 168,181 shares in the company, valued at $31,143,757.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 279,074 shares of company stock worth $49,607,454. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Willow Creek Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Apple by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Willow Creek Wealth Management Inc. now owns 15,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,367,000 after purchasing an additional 1,041 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its position in Apple by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 15,070,752 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,322,704,000 after purchasing an additional 115,428 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey Wright & Associates acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $434,000. CI Investments Inc. increased its position in Apple by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. CI Investments Inc. now owns 1,811,476 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $279,185,000 after purchasing an additional 149,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in Apple by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 2,967,915 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $457,378,000 after purchasing an additional 454,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.04% of the company’s stock.
About Apple
Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets mobile communication and media devices, and personal computers to consumers, and small and mid-sized businesses; and education, enterprise, and government customers worldwide. The company also sells related software, services, accessories, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications.
