Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $245.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective hoisted by Monness Crespi & Hardt to $245.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned 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 $238.05.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

AAPL opened at $222.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $240.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 35,937 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,986 shares during the period. Flavin Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $5,397,000. Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 611,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $153,139,000 after purchasing an additional 8,064 shares during the last quarter. Grunden Financial Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Grunden Financial Advisory Inc. now owns 4,322 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 214.3% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 33,285 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,335,000 after purchasing an additional 22,695 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.