Bank of America Increases Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $260.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $250.00 to $260.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on AAPL. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.05.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of AAPL opened at $239.69 on Wednesday. Apple has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Apple 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, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter valued at $58,000. 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.