Brokerages Set Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Target Price at $238.03

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have given a hold recommendation, twenty-three have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $237.64.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $242.21 on Friday. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $239.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.