Canaccord Genuity Group Boosts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $215.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective raised by Canaccord Genuity Group from $200.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning, Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. DZ Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Redburn Partners lowered Apple to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.11.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $182.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $172.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the 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 owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted 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 during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.