Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $230.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target boosted by Barclays from $180.00 to $230.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on AAPL. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday, October 20th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.39.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $270.37 on Friday. Apple has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $277.32. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.03, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $248.34 and a 200-day moving average of $222.34. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be issued 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 of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value 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 represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its position in Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Apple by 98,917.0% during the 2nd quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,106,000 after acquiring an additional 57,898,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 20,464.8% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares during the last quarter. 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.