Monness Crespi & Hardt Issues Positive Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price hoisted by Monness Crespi & Hardt to $245.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $202.67 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $200.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $223.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, 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 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Weaver Consulting Group grew its stake in Apple by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 36,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,464,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the period. Wallace Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wallace Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,388 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,886,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares in the last quarter. Wahed Invest LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 351,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $81,865,000 after acquiring an additional 34,097 shares in the last quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 3,091,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $720,220,000 after acquiring an additional 439,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 21.2% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 2,332,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $543,502,000 after purchasing an additional 407,813 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% 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.