Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives $236.78 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-seven brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. 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. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $236.78.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $248.13 on Wednesday. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $250.80. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $223.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.69, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. 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.