Analysts Set Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Target Price at $240.80

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-two analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have issued a hold recommendation, fifteen have issued a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $241.7684.

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 9th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 209.2% during the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $238.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.11. Apple has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.17.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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.