Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given New $245.00 Price Target at Monness Crespi & Hardt

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by stock analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt from $260.00 to $245.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the iPhone maker's stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt's price objective points to a potential upside of 23.18% from the stock's previous close.

AAPL has been the subject of several other research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 3.1 %

AAPL stock traded down $6.46 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $198.89. The stock had a trading volume of 67,282,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,237,265. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $212.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.58. Apple has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Company Profile

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.