Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target decreased by Barclays from $186.00 to $184.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Down 0.4 %

Apple stock opened at $222.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 145.09%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple will post 7.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 417,924 shares of company stock worth $94,142,399 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 10,402 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013 shares during the last quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 45,212 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,098 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC now owns 418,593 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $71,780,000 after purchasing an additional 3,057 shares during the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 15.0% during the first quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 23,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,944,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ERn Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the first quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 41,893 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,184,000 after purchasing an additional 809 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.