Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 4.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded up 4.3% during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $280.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $256.64 and last traded at $256.08. 105,016,851 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 82% from the average session volume of 57,567,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $245.50.

AAPL has been the topic of several other research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.03.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.78 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $226.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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.