Bank of America Lowers Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $240.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target decreased by Bank of America from $250.00 to $240.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.68% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $233.88.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $209.28 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $215.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $229.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a 12 month low of $169.11 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.