Bank of America Raises Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $265.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target hoisted by research analysts at Bank of America from $253.00 to $265.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 11.52% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AAPL. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.88.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.62 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $241.37 and its 200 day moving average is $230.81. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.