Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given New $240.00 Price Target at Sanford C. Bernstein

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein from $195.00 to $240.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the iPhone maker's stock. Sanford C. Bernstein's price target suggests a potential upside of 15.67% from the company's current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. DA Davidson raised Apple from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $209.38.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $207.49. 246,208,289 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 65,148,023. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. Apple has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $220.20. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $187.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company's stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 12,693 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,173,000 after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. Lincoln Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lincoln Capital Corp now owns 55,586 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $9,517,000 after buying an additional 277 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 150,997 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,852,000 after buying an additional 1,616 shares during the period. Opes Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 323,629 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $55,409,000 after buying an additional 7,774 shares during the period. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $831,000. 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.