On May 4th, 2023, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) announced its quarterly earnings results, exceeding analysts’ expectations with $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter. The company’s revenue reached $94.84 billion in comparison to the analyst’s predictions of $92.84 billion. Furthermore, Apple had a return on equity of 170.97% with a net margin of 24.49%. However, despite beating estimates, the business’s revenue was down by 2.5% on a year-over-year basis from the same period last year when the company posted $1.52 EPS.
In addition to these earnings results, CFO Luca Maestri sold 200 shares of AAPL stock on April 6th at an average price of $164.92 for a total transaction worth $32,984. Following this sale, Maestri now holds 177,657 shares of Apple’s stock valued at approximately $29,299,192.44 as confirmed by a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Moreover, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of AAPL on March 22nd for an average price of $159.76 resulting in a total transaction value of $29,991,744.80 with Williams holding onto 489,816 shares after completion.
In recent months Apple insiders have sold over 435k shares worth approximately $71 million with only about .06% currently owned by insiders.
AAPL opened today at a price of $173.57; The firm has maintained market capitalization standing around $2.75 trillion dollars and is traded at a relatively high P/E ratio of about 29x but boast some sound financials such as EPS growth rate and profit margins.
Apple’s fifty-day moving average price sits at roughly around $160 while their two-hundred day moving average price stands around $148 indication a positive growth trend over the past year. Despite these figures, Apple’s 52 week low is $124.17 with 52-week high being $176.15 leading to debate about how high the stock price can grow when considering these factors overall.
As we move ahead, the world waits to see what’s next in store for Apple considering its slight dip in revenue and continued worldwide recognition as a top-tier tech company with products that are unrivaled on many fronts.
Apple Inc. Reports Q3 2023 Earnings Per Share Estimate Drop
Apple Inc. has been in the news following a report by Wedbush analysts that dropped the Q3 2023 earnings per share estimate for the tech giant. The report indicates that Apple’s earnings per share for this quarter are likely to be $1.21, which is less than their previously predicted estimate of $1.22. Despite the revision, Wedbush maintains an “Outperform” rating and has set a price target of $205.00 on the stock.
Also, several other financial analysts have weighed in on Apple’s performance. Robert W. Baird recently lifted their target price on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00, while National Bank Financial reduced their price objective on the company’s stock to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating earlier this year.
The report also revealed that CFO Luca Maestri sold his shares in Apple earlier this year, with transactions worth over $32k being recorded by the SEC filing system. As at April 6th, Luca Maestri had 177,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at approximately $29,299,192.
Additionally, COO Jeffrey E. Williams recently sold 187,730 shares of the firm’s stock in March at an average price of $159.76 per share amounting to a total sum of almost ＄30 million.
However, there is still some good news for investors as Apple announced that its board had approved a share repurchase program worth＄90 billion in outstanding shares through open-market purchases indicating management believes its stocks are undervalued despite declining earnings projections.
Finally, shareholders will earn dividends from Apple’s stocks with investors receiving ＄0.24 dividend per share on May 18th with an ex-dividend date slated for May 12th and an annualized dividend of $0.96 representing a yield of approximately 0.55%.
