Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns “Outperform” Rating from Wedbush

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by equities researchers at Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Wedbush’s target price points to a potential upside of 36.33% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AAPL. Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.60.

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. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 69.0% during 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is 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.