Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 3.2% Following Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Apple's stock price rose 3.2% after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded its price target from $255.00 to $280.00, maintaining an overweight rating.
• Institutional investors have made significant moves, with Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increasing its stake by 573,627.2% and now holding over 205 million shares.
• The company reported earnings of $1.57 per share for the last quarter, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.43 and achieving $94.04 billion in revenue.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) rose 3.2% during trading on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $280.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $246.30 and last traded at $245.50. Approximately 163,069,320 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 185% from the average daily volume of 57,265,305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $237.88.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 11th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. They set an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $242.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $58,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $224.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

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.