Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.25 Per Share

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, May 2nd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the iPhone maker on Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24.

Apple has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Apple has a dividend payout ratio of 13.5% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Apple to earn $7.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.5%.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $172.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.78. The company has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.11.

Apple announced that its board has initiated 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 stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related 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 transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 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.

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.