Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 5% – What’s Next?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price dropped 5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $260.18 and last traded at $261.73. Approximately 77,458,346 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 42% from the average daily volume of 54,494,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $275.50.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong iPhone momentum and quarter results — iPhone 17 sales and overall revenue remained robust, supporting fundamentals and cushioning the pullback. Zacks: Strong iPhone Sales
• Positive Sentiment: Legal victory removes a potential multi‑hundred‑million dollar liability — a U.S. jury rejected Optis Wireless’ 4G patent claims, reducing near-term litigation risk. Benzinga: Optis Verdict
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support — Sanford C. Bernstein raised its price target, reflecting confidence in Apple’s growth trajectory and giving investors a bullish reference point. Bernstein PT Raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Content and services moves — Apple acquired full rights to the hit show “Severance” and added YouTube to Vision Pro, which are strategically positive for services but unlikely to move near‑term earnings materially. TechCrunch: Severance Deal
• Neutral Sentiment: Major shareholder cash flow note — Berkshire Hathaway received a large Apple dividend, underscoring Apple’s cash returns but also spotlighting Berkshire’s large position dynamics. Finbold: Berkshire Dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Siri AI upgrade delays and testing problems — reports that the Siri overhaul is running into accuracy and speed problems forced Apple to push features back, directly hitting the AI narrative investors were pricing in. CNBC: Siri Delay / Market Reaction
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk from FTC letter over Apple News — the FTC chair urged review of Apple News curation amid accusations of political bias, adding regulatory/legal uncertainty and headline risk. NYT: FTC Letter
• Negative Sentiment: Fund flow and institutional trimming amid sector pressure — several funds reduced Apple exposure and broader “Magnificent Seven” weakness amplified the selloff, raising short‑term downside pressure. Barron’s: Institutional Moves

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.13.

Apple Stock Down 2.3%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $266.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $255.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The company had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.15%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 110.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.