UBS Group Raises Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $236.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target boosted by UBS Group to $236.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Apple Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $202.52 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $222.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.99. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its position in shares of Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $64,492,000 after purchasing an additional 6,711 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.