Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) PT Lowered to $210.00 at Morgan Stanley

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target cut by Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $210.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a hold rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a neutral rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America upgraded Apple from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Wedbush restated an outperform rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $203.05.

Apple Stock Up 0.5 %

AAPL stock opened at $169.89 on Monday. Apple has a twelve month low of $162.80 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $173.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management lifted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Planning Corporation boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.