Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given New $230.00 Price Target at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 14.11% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.39.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $201.56 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $202.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $220.85. Apple has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Apple by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 19,179,656 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,260,377,000 after acquiring an additional 453,774 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 15,917,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,534,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556,183 shares during the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 178,541 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,647,000 after purchasing an additional 8,957 shares during the last quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 509,560 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $113,189,000 after purchasing an additional 2,786 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the first quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 26,599 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,908,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the period. 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.