Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given New $265.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price upped by Bank of America from $253.00 to $265.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 in a report on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $236.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $241.68 and a 200 day moving average of $230.87. Apple has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 expect that Apple will post 7.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.