Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT Raised to $216.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $216.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 17.79% from the stock’s current price.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price target (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $172.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.60. 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 PE ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.