Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 3% After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPLGet Free Report) shares traded up 3% during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $305.00 to $315.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $256.56 and last traded at $255.41. 55,127,347 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 12% from the average session volume of 49,232,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $248.04.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Argus set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.80.

View Our Latest Research Report on Apple

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Moran Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,746 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,980,000 after purchasing an additional 6,801 shares during the last quarter. Covenant Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Covenant Partners LLC now owns 15,969 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,341,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Keystone Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 79,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,687,000 after acquiring an additional 5,406 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 77,437 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,052,000 after acquiring an additional 955 shares during the period. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. LifeWealth Investments LLC now owns 37,937 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,314,000 after acquiring an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 3.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPLGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

About Apple

(Get Free Report)

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.

Further Reading

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