UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Key Points

• UBS Group raised its target price for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) stock from $210.00 to $220.00, indicating a potential upside of 8.03% from its current price, while maintaining a "neutral" rating.
• Analysts are divided on Apple's future, with estimates ranging from a low target of $215.00 to a high of $270.00, leading to an overall average target price of $237.25 and an average rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Apple recently reported earnings of $1.57 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, and announced a substantial stock repurchase plan of $100 billion, signaling confidence in its stock value.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) had its target price raised by analysts at UBS Group from $210.00 to $220.00 in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a "neutral" rating on the iPhone maker's stock. UBS Group's target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.03% from the company's current price.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.25.

Apple Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Apple stock traded down $3.92 on Friday, hitting $203.65. The stock had a trading volume of 43,834,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,567,547. Apple has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $205.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.98.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its position in Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $58,000. 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.

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