Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $10.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $183.38. 163,110,196 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 62,045,676. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $172.15 and its 200 day moving average is $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.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.72.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.