JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $260.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $265.00 to $260.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.14.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $223.66 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.