Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 1.1% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 1.1% during trading on Wednesday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $260.00 to $275.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $218.76 and last traded at $215.10. Approximately 14,029,188 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 52,733,532 shares. The stock had previously closed at $212.69.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Maxim Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.65.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $233.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.60. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

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.