Bank of America Raises Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $230.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price boosted by Bank of America from $225.00 to $230.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $196.00 target price (up previously from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a buy rating to a neutral rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.93%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Headinvest LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,284,000 after acquiring an additional 24,634 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.