Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 2.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) rose 2.5% during trading on Thursday after Tigress Financial raised their price target on the stock from $245.00 to $295.00. Tigress Financial currently has a strong-buy rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $232.44 and last traded at $232.24. Approximately 17,033,688 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 61,539,641 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.49.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Loop Capital raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.30.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 168.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 268 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $221.05 and its 200 day moving average is $195.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Apple

(Get Free Report)

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.