By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) had its target price decreased by Wedbush from $325.00 to $250.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.
A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AAPL. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.05.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL
Apple Stock Performance
NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $181.46 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $228.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.82. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake 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 worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after buying an additional 3,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management increased its stake in Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $64,492,000 after buying an additional 6,711 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
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