Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Sets New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $280.00 to $290.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $266.66 and last traded at $266.20, with a volume of 3113723 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $262.82.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $279.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $244.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.14.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

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.