Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $345.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target lifted by Melius from $290.00 to $345.00 in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Melius currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.39.

Apple Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $270.37 on Friday. 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 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $277.32. The company has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s fifty day moving average is $248.34 and its 200 day moving average is $222.34.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Command Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 18.4% in the third quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 48,664 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,391,000 after purchasing an additional 7,578 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 40.8% in the third quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,937,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.4% in the third quarter. Tandem Financial LLC now owns 8,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,269,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 32,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,293,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 15.4% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 536,116 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,511,000 after purchasing an additional 71,374 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.