JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $245.00 to $230.00 in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.38% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.39.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $201.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. Apple has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $202.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salus Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. 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.