Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 0.3% on Wednesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock to $256.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $244.11 and last traded at $243.39. Approximately 9,364,926 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 57,757,191 shares. The stock had previously closed at $242.65.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $229.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $220.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.