Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $205.00 at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price upped by Monness Crespi & Hardt from $200.00 to $205.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Piper Sandler Companies lowered shares of Apple to a neutral rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Redburn Partners downgraded Apple to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $10.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $183.38. The company had a trading volume of 163,224,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,692,680. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $172.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $181.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its board 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 typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.5% in the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 149,874 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,701,000 after acquiring an additional 2,175 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $4,418,000 after acquiring an additional 2,732 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 367,082 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,947,000 after acquiring an additional 7,091 shares in the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in 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 Apple by 9.3% in the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 5,497 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.