Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $185.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Citigroup to $185.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 19.43% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.27.

Apple Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $6.24 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $229.62. The company had a trading volume of 25,358,053 shares, compared to its average volume of 59,748,332. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $226.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Finally, Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.