Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT Raised to $230.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price boosted by analysts at Bank of America from $225.00 to $230.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price suggests a potential upside of 25.42% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price target (up from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.00.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

AAPL stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.60. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Apple will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Headinvest LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its position in Apple by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,158,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,284,000 after acquiring an additional 24,634 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.