Citigroup Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective trimmed by Citigroup from $275.00 to $245.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $202.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $222.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.99. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Olstein Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Apple by 100.0% in the first quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 23,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,109,000 after acquiring an additional 11,500 shares during the last quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 7.4% in the first quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 128,733 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,595,000 after buying an additional 8,831 shares during the last quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 55,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,295,000 after buying an additional 1,816 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,057 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,123,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, International Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,623,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.