Loop Capital Has Lowered Expectations for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price dropped by analysts at Loop Capital from $230.00 to $215.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Loop Capital’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.79% from the company’s current price.

AAPL has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $232.63.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Apple stock opened at $213.32 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. 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.