Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives $235.85 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $235.85.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value 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 trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares in the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. raised its position in Apple by 12.4% in the third quarter. Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. now owns 185,781 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $43,287,000 after purchasing an additional 20,461 shares during the last quarter. Echo Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.2% during the third quarter. Echo Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,153 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Koss Olinger Consulting LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the third quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,197,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

AAPL opened at $196.79 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio 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.