Citigroup Boosts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $185.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective upped by Citigroup to $185.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Stock Target Advisor reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. StockNews.com raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.91.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $231.41 on Wednesday. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allied Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 82,976 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,229,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166 shares in the last quarter. Capital CS Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 111.6% in the first quarter. Capital CS Group LLC now owns 4,762 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $817,000 after buying an additional 45,729 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 21,997 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,772,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Ballew Advisors Inc lifted its position in Apple by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Ballew Advisors Inc now owns 7,842 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,316,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its holdings in Apple by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 604,207 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $103,609,000 after acquiring an additional 83,222 shares during the period. 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.