Barclays Increases Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $184.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target raised by research analysts at Barclays to $184.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm presently has a “sell” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential downside of 22.35% from the stock’s current price.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.64.

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $5.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $236.97. 9,210,900 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 37,582,883. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $229.75.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.