Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $294.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective lifted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $280.00 to $294.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $236.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.