The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $265.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price raised by The Goldman Sachs Group from $238.00 to $265.00 in a report published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $275.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, July 11th. DZ Bank reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Apple from $216.00 to $273.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cfra upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $225.69.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $224.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $206.82 and its 200 day moving average is $188.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its position in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.