UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective raised by UBS Group to $236.00 in a research note published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Apple Trading Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $194.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $220.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.53. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its position in shares of Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,505,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares during the period. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management lifted its stake in Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $64,492,000 after purchasing an additional 6,711 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% 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.