Barclays Boosts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $164.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $158.00 to $164.00 in a report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an underweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the topic of several other reports. Redburn Partners cut shares of Apple to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a neutral rating and issued a $196.00 target price (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $204.00.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded up $10.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $183.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 163,224,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $172.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $181.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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 the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 6.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.93%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in Apple by 1.5% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 149,874 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,701,000 after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares during the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 25,764 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,418,000 after purchasing an additional 2,732 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 367,082 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,947,000 after purchasing an additional 7,091 shares during the period. PrairieView Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC now owns 24,932 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,276,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 5,497 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $943,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.