Bank of America Increases Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $256.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price upped by Bank of America to $256.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 5.33% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $243.04 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $244.54. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $230.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.05.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’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 represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $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.