Bank of America Has Lowered Expectations for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective cut by analysts at Bank of America from $265.00 to $250.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 32.71% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 14th. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.26.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $188.38 on Thursday. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $229.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.96. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in shares of Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $787,631,000 after purchasing an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in Apple by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 193,392 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $45,060,000 after purchasing an additional 33,056 shares in the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Apple by 6.3% during the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 173,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,384,000 after buying an additional 10,280 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 40,998 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,552,000 after buying an additional 1,582 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 877,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $204,439,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.