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

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target cut by Wedbush from $325.00 to $250.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Wedbush’s price target indicates a potential upside of 44.99% from the stock’s previous close.

AAPL has been the subject of several other research reports. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $241.23.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $172.42 on Monday. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.1% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after buying an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC now owns 12,232 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,850,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 18,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,384,000 after acquiring an additional 597 shares in the last quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC now owns 117,896 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,470,000 after purchasing an additional 9,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 57,254 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,340,000 after purchasing an additional 5,493 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% 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.