Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $260.00 at Sanford C. Bernstein

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target lifted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $240.00 to $260.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. Sanford C. Bernstein currently has an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.03.

Apple Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $243.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $238.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.69.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Citizens Financial Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 23,725 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,941,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the last quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 125,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,435,000 after acquiring an additional 54,297 shares during the last quarter. NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $8,259,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Apple by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 230,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $57,777,000 after acquiring an additional 30,508 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 23.3% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 29,563 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,403,000 after purchasing an additional 5,583 shares during the last quarter. 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.