Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Barclays from $184.00 to $183.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Barclays‘s price target indicates a potential downside of 17.80% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.99.

Apple Stock Down 3.2 %

AAPL opened at $222.64 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.82. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth $77,000. 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.