Bank of America Increases Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $260.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Bank of America from $250.00 to $260.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 8.43% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AAPL. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.05.

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $239.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $218.50 and a 200-day moving average of $212.89. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11. Apple has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.