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 note published on Wednesday,Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush raised their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.99.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

Apple stock opened at $223.83 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $241.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.82. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. 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 released its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors 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 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value 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 $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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 company. Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $14,639,000. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 110,171 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,589,000 after buying an additional 7,373 shares during the last quarter. Spectrum Planning & Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 25.3% in the 4th quarter. Spectrum Planning & Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,709 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $929,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Bensler LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 136,273 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,125,000 after acquiring an additional 3,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tamar Securities LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 143,330 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,893,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.