Itau BBA Securities Upgrades Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) to Market Perform

Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Itau BBA Securities currently has $188.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $162.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Bank of America upgraded Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Apple from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a neutral rating and issued a $196.00 target price (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $181.71 on Friday. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.26, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $172.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $181.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during 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 during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.