Morgan Stanley Increases Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $216.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target raised by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $216.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 17.04% from the stock’s previous close.

AAPL has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Redburn Partners downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.44.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $11.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $184.56. 123,061,936 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,496,973. The company has a market cap of $2.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $172.15 and its 200 day moving average is $181.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Apple will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, 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 transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.