Raymond James Cuts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $230.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target cut by Raymond James from $250.00 to $230.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.25.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $205.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $212.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $228.63. Apple has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

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.