Brokerages Set Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target at $238.05

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirty-five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $242.52.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $236.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $241.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. On average, analysts predict that Apple will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.9% during the second quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,702 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. New Millennium Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 51,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,951,000 after purchasing an additional 13,638 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,069 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,438,000 after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 106,350 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,400,000 after acquiring an additional 3,386 shares during the period. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 39,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,269,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.