Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $216.00 at Morgan Stanley

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective lifted by Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $216.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Friday. Loop Capital decreased 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. Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a hold rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $10.35 during 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 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $172.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $181.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its 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. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 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.