JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price decreased by research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $270.00 to $245.00 in a research note issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential upside of 23.64% from the stock’s previous close.

AAPL has been the topic of several other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.50.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $198.15 on Monday. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $231.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd 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. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Hedge funds and other 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.