Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target upped by Barclays to $184.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a sell rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price objective 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $240.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.95.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 8.6% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. New Perspectives Inc boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. New Perspectives Inc now owns 12,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,654,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. now owns 38,077 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,020,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors raised its position in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 55,203 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,627,000 after purchasing an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.9% during the second quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC now owns 12,639 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,662,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Apple

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.