Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $245.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price raised by Citigroup from $240.00 to $245.00 in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.25.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $202.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.16. Apple has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $205.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% 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 Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oarsman Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 42,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,620,000 after buying an additional 2,094 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust grew its holdings in Apple by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 32,258 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,618,000 after buying an additional 2,091 shares during the period. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Winebrenner Capital Management LLC now owns 19,435 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,988,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $655,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 28,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,800,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% 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.