Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Given New $230.00 Price Target at Bank of America

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target upped by Bank of America from $225.00 to $230.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 24.62% from the stock’s previous close.

AAPL has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.44.

Apple Trading Up 6.7 %

AAPL stock traded up $11.53 on Friday, hitting $184.56. 123,061,936 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,496,973. Apple has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $172.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Lutz Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the first quarter. Lutz Financial Services LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. AA Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1,203.3% during the first quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 21,088 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,616,000 after purchasing an additional 19,470 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of Apple by 22.0% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 1,302,466 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $223,347,000 after acquiring an additional 235,175 shares during the last quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC now owns 16,247 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,786,000 after acquiring an additional 1,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet North America Advisors SA grew its position in Apple by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 109,747 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,819,000 after buying an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.