Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $320.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $279.00 to $320.00 in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AAPL. Bank of America boosted their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Three 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.39.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $270.37 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 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. Apple has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $277.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $248.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.34.

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. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the third quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its position in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.