Brokerages Set Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Target Price at $237.30

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, twenty-four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $238.62.

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 5th. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $220.85 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $196.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory raised its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Core Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Lowery Thomas LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. 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.