UBS Group Boosts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $236.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price increased by UBS Group from $190.00 to $236.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a buy rating and issued a $255.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Evercore ISI reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $238.62.

Apple Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $220.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $197.26. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sandy Spring Bank increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 483,841 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $93,154,000 after buying an additional 16,237 shares in the last quarter. Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $1,041,000. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares in the last quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 11,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,903 shares during the period. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 118.1% during the 4th quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 100,031 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $19,259,000 after buying an additional 54,174 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% 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.