Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives $238.03 Average Price Target from Analysts

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation, twenty-three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $239.85.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew 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. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $240.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.10. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

About Apple

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.