The Goldman Sachs Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $259.00 to $256.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.86% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.88.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $208.37 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $216.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.42. Apple has a 12-month low of $168.15 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.07, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by 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.