Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Stock analysts at Credit Agricole SA lifted their FY2016 earnings estimates for Apple in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. Credit Agricole SA analyst A. Silver now anticipates that the firm will earn $8.29 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $8.26. Credit Agricole SA currently has a “Buy” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Credit Agricole SA also issued estimates for Apple’s Q4 2016 earnings at $1.69 EPS, Q1 2017 earnings at $3.20 EPS, Q2 2017 earnings at $2.00 EPS, Q3 2017 earnings at $1.62 EPS, Q4 2017 earnings at $1.89 EPS, FY2017 earnings at $8.71 EPS and FY2018 earnings at $9.94 EPS.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The iPhone maker reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.38 by $0.04. The company earned $42.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.85 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year.
Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Cowen and Company upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 30th. Longbow Research upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 30th. Piper Jaffray Cos. reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $179.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. S&P Equity Research reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. Finally, Credit Suisse Group AG reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target (up from $140.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, April 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, forty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $124.76.
Several hedge funds have made changes to their positions in the company. Meridian Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 38,916 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,096,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Papp L Roy & Associates raised its stake in shares of Apple by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Papp L Roy & Associates now owns 101,783 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,714,000 after buying an additional 14,436 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Apple by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 21,373 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,250,000 after buying an additional 1,731 shares during the last quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Financial Enhancement Group LLC now owns 59,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,219,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NTV Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 41,766 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,396,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter.
In other news, SVP D Bruce Sewell sold 103,300 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.78, for a total transaction of $9,997,374.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 239,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,172,228.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Angela J. Ahrendts sold 50,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $5,000,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 147,971 shares in the company, valued at $14,797,100. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 8th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%.
Apple Inc (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings.
