Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.7% on Analyst Upgrade
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report)’s stock price was up 0.7% on Monday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock to $236.00. UBS Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $248.86 and last traded at $247.30. Approximately 16,278,520 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 52,396,992 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.55.
A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on AAPL. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.
View Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
Insider Activity
In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Apple Stock Performance
The firm’s fifty day moving average is $240.26 and its 200-day moving average is $233.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.
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.
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