Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $215.00
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) had its price target raised by Maxim Group to $215.00 in a research note published on Friday,Stock Target Advisor reports. Maxim Group currently has a hold rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.
A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.85.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Apple
Apple Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $245.55 on Friday. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average of $240.47 and a 200-day moving average of $232.88.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Apple
Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
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