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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective lowered by Moffett Nathanson from $211.00 to $202.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $228.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $227.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $217.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Financial Advisory boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.