Analysts Set Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT at $235.51

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $235.25.

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Moffett Nathanson cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Apple stock opened at $229.87 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $227.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.81. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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 during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.