Evercore ISI Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target boosted by Evercore ISI from $260.00 to $275.00 in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Maxim Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $214.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $232.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. 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.