JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $265.00 to $260.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the iPhone maker's stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price would indicate a potential upside of 16.78% from the company's previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Moffett Nathanson restated a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $238.02.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded down $7.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $222.64. The stock had a trading volume of 97,195,823 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,959,605. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $241.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This 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 insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE boosted its stake in Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Regency Capital Management Inc. DE now owns 29,245 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $7,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029 shares during the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 135,943 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,043,000 after buying an additional 19,110 shares during the last quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Square Asset Management LLC now owns 22,983 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,755,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its stake in Apple by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 603,176 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $151,047,000 after acquiring an additional 88,792 shares during the period. Finally, Archford Capital Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 72,868 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,248,000 after acquiring an additional 4,447 shares during the last quarter. 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.