Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Cut to $280.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price lowered by The Goldman Sachs Group from $286.00 to $280.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.14.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $223.66 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $241.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.79, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently 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.