Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Maxim Group Analyst Says

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target increased by Maxim Group to $215.00 in a report issued on Friday,Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $245.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $232.55. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.