JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $260.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $265.00 to $260.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price target would suggest a potential upside of 9.16% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James upped their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $238.05.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $238.18. 15,292,289 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,623,488. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 738,227 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $184,867,000 after purchasing an additional 84,239 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Apple by 26.5% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 6,031,766 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,510,475,000 after acquiring an additional 1,264,387 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Apple by 65.2% during the 4th quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 22,810 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,712,000 after purchasing an additional 9,005 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $8,095,000. Finally, Vicus Capital raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 58,021 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,530,000 after purchasing an additional 313 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.

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