Maxim Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective boosted by investment analysts at Maxim Group from $203.00 to $215.00 in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm presently has a “hold” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Maxim Group’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 3.55% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on AAPL. StockNews.com upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.23.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $222.91 on Friday. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Solution LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 165.3% in the third quarter. Retirement Solution LLC now owns 32,845 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,467 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in Apple by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 7,939 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,850,000 after buying an additional 620 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,652 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $851,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 21.8% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Wealth & Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 28,062 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,538,000 after acquiring an additional 5,021 shares during the period. Finally, 17 Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. 17 Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,980,000 after acquiring an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% 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.