Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $240.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein from $195.00 to $240.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target suggests a potential upside of 14.46% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.38.

Apple Stock Down 2.2 %

AAPL stock opened at $209.68 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $187.25 and a 200 day moving average of $184.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Flagstone Financial Management increased its position in Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation increased its position in Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.