Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $280.00 at Robert W. Baird

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price lifted by Robert W. Baird from $230.00 to $280.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $253.76.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $269.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.09. Apple has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $269.89. The company’s fifty day moving average is $245.68 and its 200 day moving average is $220.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors 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.