The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $275.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $265.00 to $275.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on AAPL. Piper Sandler Companies restated a neutral rating and issued a $225.00 price target (up from $190.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. UBS Group restated a neutral rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $234.29.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $205.48 on Friday. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $213.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.19, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its position in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its position in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by 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.