Brokerages Set Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target at $238.05

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation, twenty-one have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $242.52.

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $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 boosted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.01 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.86. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.