Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $245.00 to $290.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 12.21% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on AAPL. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.47.

Apple Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of AAPL opened at $258.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.22, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $265.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $242.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $218.02.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. APS Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $6,720,000. Index Fund Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 55.5% during the 3rd quarter. Index Fund Advisors Inc. now owns 23,870 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,078,000 after acquiring an additional 8,515 shares during the period. Avalon Capital Management lifted its stake in Apple by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avalon Capital Management now owns 54,426 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,859,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares during the period. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. New England Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,147 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 55,290 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,078,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the period. 67.73% 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.