Market Update (NASDAQ:AAPL): Icahn’s Apple Dump Illustrates Risk Of Chinese Government Meddling

[at Forbes] – Carl Icahn’s decision to dispose of his remaining stake in Apple–and to disclose it on CNBC–sent both AAPL shares and the broader stock market into a tailspin Thursday. While praising the company and CEO Tim Cook, Icahn noted the disposition related to his worries about China. Greater China was Apple’s worst-performing geographic Read more on this. Apple Inc. (AAPL) , with a current market cap of $514.26B, began trading this morning at $94.00. Looking at the equity, the company’s one day range is $92.51 to $94.72 with a one year range of $92.00 to $132.97. Priced at 11.36x this year’s forecasted earnings, AAPL shares are relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 10.23x forward p/e ratio. And for dividend hunters, the company pays shareholders $2.08 per share annually in dividends, yielding 1.98%. According to a consensus of 37 analysts, the earnings estimate of $1.41 per share would be $0.44 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.37 sequential decrease. In looking at the bigger picture, the full-year EPS estimate of $8.35 would be a $0.87 setback when compared to the previous year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is based on a consensus revenue forecast of the current quarter of $42.44 Billion. If realized, that would be a 14.44% decrease over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Needham Initiated AAPL at Strong Buy (Apr 6, 2016). Previously, Cowen upgraded AAPL from Market Perform to Outperform. The average price target for AAPL shares by the analysts covering it is $125.95, which is 33.99% above where the stock opened. See more in (NASDAQ:AAPL) Similar Articles: Stock Update: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Will Qualcomm Lose Out on Apple’s iPhone? (QCOM, AAPL) Company Update (NASDAQ:AAPL): Chinese giant Xiaomi takes aim at Apple iPhone with launch of Mi5 handset Market Update: Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Will 2016 Be the Year Apple Music Takes Off?