Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives $239.27 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $237.27.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $186.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the period. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $230.57 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $226.64 and its 200 day moving average is $209.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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%.

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.