Morgan Stanley Boosts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $275.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $273.00 to $275.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $253.00 price target (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $236.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.87. 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 has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.