Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Increased to $236.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $190.00 to $236.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated a neutral rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Apple from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $238.62.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $220.82 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $223.09 and a 200-day moving average of $197.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $460,299,000. Clear Rock Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.5% during the 2nd quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 15,189 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after buying an additional 2,258 shares in the last quarter. Creekside Partners acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $8,230,000. Brown Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $4,405,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $11,178,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% 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.