Apple shares close lower on Tuesday, Bank of America Merrill Lynch boosts price target on the stock on mobile app strength

Bank of America Merrill Lynch reportedly raised its price target on Apple Incs (AAPL) stock yesterday to $250 from $230 previously due to confidence in the companys efforts to achieve diversification of its mobile application offerings.

Apple shares closed lower for a second consecutive trading session on NASDAQ on Tuesday. The stock edged down 0.19% ($0.42) to $215.04, with the intraday high and the intraday low being at $217.18 and $214.13 respectively.

Shares of Apple Inc have surged 27.07% so far in 2018 compared with a 7.08% gain for the underlying index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2017, Apple’s stock gained 46.11%, thus, it again outperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 19.42% return.

“The strong growth rate of non-gaming categories gives us increased confidence in the sustainability of strong App Store sales, and reduces risk of dependence on one single category of Apps,” Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote in a client note, cited by CNBC.

“We raise our Services revenue estimate for 2019 by about $800 million and factor in slightly higher margins, and reiterate Buy on strength in Services, stable hardware & strong capital returns,” Mohan added.

The analyst also noted that App Store annual revenue growth was being increasingly driven by non-gaming categories such as entertainment applications as well as photo & video applications.

According to CNN Money, the 35 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Apple Inc’s stock price, have a median target of $215.00, with a high estimate of $275.00 and a low estimate of $170.00. The median estimate represents a 0.02% downside compared to the closing price of $215.04 on August 21st.

The same media also reported that 20 out of 39 surveyed investment analysts had rated Apple Inc’s stock as “Buy”, while 14 – as “Hold”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.

Daily and Weekly Pivot Levels

With the help of the Camarilla calculation method, today’s levels of importance for the Apple stock are presented as follows:

R1 – $215.32
R2 – $215.60
R3 (Range Resistance – Sell) – $215.88
R4 (Long Breakout) – $216.72
R5 (Breakout Target 1) – $217.70
R6 (Breakout Target 2) – $218.10

S1 – $214.76
S2 – $214.48
S3 (Range Support – Buy) – $214.20
S4 (Short Breakout) – $213.36
S5 (Breakout Target 1) – $212.38
S6 (Breakout Target 2) – $211.98

By using the traditional method of calculation, the weekly levels of importance for Apple Inc (AAPL) are presented as follows:

Central Pivot Point – $214.41
R1 – $221.12
R2 – $224.66
R3 – $231.37
R4 – $238.08

S1 – $210.87
S2 – $204.16
S3 – $200.62
S4 – $197.08