Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $252.00 to $220.00 in a research report released on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.26.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $190.42 on Tuesday. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $223.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Breakwater Capital Group boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 87,873 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,519,000 after acquiring an additional 3,281 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its position in Apple by 7.1% during the first quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 34,106 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,576,000 after purchasing an additional 2,248 shares during the period. ACT Advisors LLC. boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.6% in the first quarter. ACT Advisors LLC. now owns 8,251 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV grew its position in Apple by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV now owns 50,458 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 2,093 shares during the period. Finally, KWB Wealth raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 17,434 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,873,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during 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.