Oppenheimer Reiterates Outperform Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Oppenheimer reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a buy rating and issued a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Melius Research reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $238.62.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $222.50 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $223.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.52. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. American Trust increased its holdings in Apple by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Trust now owns 72,174 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,201,000 after purchasing an additional 7,428 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.8% during the second quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,903 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,192,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the second quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 79,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,830,000 after buying an additional 997 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $563,000. Finally, Brightwater Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,360,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.