Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $330.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price increased by CLSA from $265.00 to $330.00 in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Melius boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.09.

Apple Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $278.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $266.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.48. The company has a market capitalization of $4.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Apple has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. Apple’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its position in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its position in Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. 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.