Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Wells Fargo & Co. in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. They presently have a $120.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Wells Fargo & Co.’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 13.43% from the stock’s previous close.
Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the first quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 12,655,593 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,379,333,000 after buying an additional 127,360 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Group LTD raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Group LTD now owns 47,324,047 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,157,847,000 after buying an additional 1,498,288 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.9% in the first quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,170,724 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,544,480,000 after buying an additional 1,726,014 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the first quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 32,789 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,574,000 after buying an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peddock Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the first quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,731,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter.
Shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded up 1.25% during trading on Wednesday, reaching $105.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 30,202,641 shares. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $97.98 and its 200 day moving average is $99.52. The firm has a market cap of $570.04 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.34. Apple has a one year low of $89.47 and a one year high of $123.82.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The iPhone maker reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.38 by $0.04. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.85 earnings per share. The business had revenue of $42.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.35 billion. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple will post $8.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 8th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 4th.
Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. S&P Equity Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Saturday, April 23rd. FBN Securities reduced their target price on Apple from $120.00 to $110.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 27th. Credit Suisse Group AG cut Apple to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 27th. Bank of America Corp. set a $120.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, forty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. The company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $126.12.
In other Apple news, SVP Angela J. Ahrendts sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $5,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 147,971 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,797,100. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP D Bruce Sewell sold 103,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.78, for a total value of $9,997,374.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 239,432 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,172,228.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.
Apple Inc (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings.
[Source:- BBNS]
