Brokerages Set Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT at $237.30

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $238.62.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler Companies reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price (up previously from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $4,782,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $220.85 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $222.72 and a 200-day moving average of $196.70. 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 has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 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.