DA Davidson Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target dropped by stock analysts at DA Davidson from $290.00 to $230.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. DA Davidson’s target price indicates a potential upside of 12.38% from the company’s previous close.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.73.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $6.52 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $204.67. 73,715,048 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,851,908. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $222.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 ownership of the stock. 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in 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 boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,505,000 after buying an additional 3,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $64,492,000 after buying an additional 6,711 shares in 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.