Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $215.00 at Maxim Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target upped by Maxim Group from $203.00 to $215.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Maxim Group currently has a hold rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $186.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.23.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL traded down $3.00 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $222.91. 65,276,741 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 59,395,426. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.03. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 6.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.22%.

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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Apple by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,474,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.