Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price upped by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $273.00 to $275.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 15.73% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $253.00 price target (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.88.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $237.62 on Friday. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.81. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’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 directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings 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 worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in 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.