A number of firms have modified their ratings and price targets on shares of Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) recently:

  • Apple ‘s EPS estimates were cut by analysts at William Blair. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
  • Apple had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Group. They now have a $900.00 price target on the stock.
  • Apple had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Sterne Agee. They now have a $840.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, “AAPL will report its Sept. quarter this Thursday, October 25, after the close. Based on our supplier checks, we anticipate a modest revenue and EPS beat but believe guidance will likely be vintage conservative. The key reason being higher iPhone 5 quality control costs that AAPL will likely partially absorb. Despite near-term gross margin concerns, our fundamental view remains upbeat as we believe iPhone 5 and iPad mini will drive the industry’s most powerful product cycle.”
  • Apple had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Goldman Sachs. They now have a $810.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, “Apple is scheduled to report fiscal fourth quarter results on Thursday, October 25 after the market close. This quarter could be a bit of a nail biter as we expect the near-term stock reaction to be heavily dependent on end-of-quarter iPhone 5 supply, management commentary on the supply ramp, and how cautious Apple chooses to be with guidance. All of these factors are likely to be wrapped in the typical conservatism of Apple’s management team, but we believe this is largely countered by a material degradation in investor sentiment over the past several weeks (the stock is off nearly 14% from its highs). Our key expectations for the quarter are as follows: (1) we expect a relatively in-line quarter, with revenues of $35.16 billion and EPS of $8.56; (2) we forecast 24.6 million iPhones, and we expect encouraging management commentary on the pace of the iPhone 5 supply ramp through year-end; and (3) we expect management’s outlook to be conservative, as usual, with guidance likely for revenues of $51-52 billion with EPS of $12-13. December quarter consensus stands at $54.73 billion/$15.41.”
  • Apple had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at FBR Capital. They now have a $725.00 price target on the stock.
  • Apple had its price target raised by analysts at Canaccord Genuity from $797.00 to $800.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
  • Apple had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Jefferies Group. They now have a $900.00 price target on the stock. They wrote, “After our hands-on experience with the new iPad mini, we believe it will be a top seller this Christmas. Unexpected: refreshed 10″ iPad (we expected Mar), refreshed iMacs. Expected: 13″ Retina MacBook Pro. The iTunes refresh looks like a CQ1 event. Finally, Apple implied CQ3 iPad shipments of 16M so we are trimming our prior 18M estimate but maintain our well above consensus CQ4 and FY13 estimates.”
  • Apple had its “outperform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at RBC Capital. They now have a $750.00 price target on the stock.

Shares of Apple, Inc opened at 616.83 on Thursday. Apple, Inc has a one year low of $363.32 and a one year high of $705.07. The company has a market cap of $578.2 billion and a P/E ratio of 14.50.

Apple Inc. (Apple), along with its subsidiaries, is engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players.