Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target upped by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $260.00 to $270.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.63% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on AAPL. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued 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 an average price target of $239.88.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.62 on Friday. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $241.37 and its 200-day moving average is $230.81. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 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%. Equities analysts expect that Apple will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value 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 represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth about $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.