Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target Raised to $290.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company raised Apple's price target from $245.00 to $290.00, indicating a potential upside of 10.59% from the current price.
• Multiple analysts have recently upgraded their ratings on Apple, with Tigress Financial setting a price objective of $305.00 for a "strong-buy" rating.
• Despite strong quarterly earnings reports, CEO Timothy D. Cook and other insiders sold significant shares of Apple stock, raising concerns over insider activity.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by stock analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $245.00 to $290.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the iPhone maker's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.59% from the company's current price.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Loop Capital raised shares of Apple from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Monday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $252.47.

Apple Stock Up 3.9%

AAPL opened at $262.24 on Tuesday. Apple has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $264.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $241.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.42. The company has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,772,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $40,107,000 after buying an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 209.2% during the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,507,000 after buying an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.

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