Wedbush Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

13 Apr 2024, 04:28 by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat Gem

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) in a research note issued 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 brokerages have also recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a neutral rating and a $166.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group restated a hold rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $204.08.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Apple

Apple Trading Up 0.9 %

Apple stock opened at $176.55 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple has a 12 month low of $161.42 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 253,915 shares of company stock valued at $44,202,868 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP increased its stake in Apple by 200.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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