Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Cut to $340.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $345.00 to $340.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on AAPL. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price target (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $365.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.60.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $308.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $4.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $309.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $281.45. Apple has a 12-month low of $201.50 and a 12-month high of $344.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 142.29% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple will post 8.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported record June-quarter revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16.4% year over year, and diluted EPS of $2.02, exceeding Wall Street expectations. iPhone revenue rose 22% to $54.3 billion, while Mac revenue increased 29% to $10.4 billion. Apple reports third quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s large installed base, strong hardware demand and potential consumer-AI opportunities remain long-term supports. Some analysts remain bullish: TD Cowen raised its price target to $400, while other firms maintained Buy or Overweight ratings despite trimming estimates. Analyst raises Apple price target
• Positive Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, payable August 13 to shareholders of record August 10. Apple also continues to emphasize an AI strategy that requires less capital spending than the infrastructure-heavy approach used by some peers. Apple Q3 financial results

About Apple

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.