The Goldman Sachs Group Lowers Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $280.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $286.00 to $280.00 in a report published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $222.78 on Thursday. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.64, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $240.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.69.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.