Morgan Stanley Cuts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $210.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price lowered by Morgan Stanley from $220.00 to $210.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a neutral rating and a $166.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wedbush restated an outperform rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $203.05.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

AAPL opened at $169.02 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $173.58 and a 200 day moving average of $181.94. The company has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.27. Apple has a 12 month low of $162.80 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Apple

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.