Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 0.5% After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares rose 0.5% on Thursday after Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on the stock to $245.00. Monness Crespi & Hardt currently has a buy rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $227.03 and last traded at $224.85. Approximately 17,600,548 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 52,053,734 shares. The stock had previously closed at $223.83.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.4 %

The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $240.97 and its 200-day moving average is $230.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.