Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given New $260.00 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price upped by Sanford C. Bernstein from $240.00 to $260.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AAPL. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.03.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $243.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $238.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. First Citizens Financial Corp increased its stake in Apple by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 23,725 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,941,000 after buying an additional 1,324 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. Centre Asset Management LLC now owns 125,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,435,000 after acquiring an additional 54,297 shares in the last quarter. NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $8,259,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 230,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $57,777,000 after acquiring an additional 30,508 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 23.3% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 29,563 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,403,000 after acquiring an additional 5,583 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is 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.