Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty-six analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have given a hold recommendation, twenty-two have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $297.5833.
AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $267.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Apple News Roundup
- Positive Sentiment: MacBook Neo demand and Bank of America bullish thesis — BofA keeps a Buy rating and $320 price target, citing the MacBook Neo’s instant sellouts as a catalyst to expand Apple’s addressable PC market and upside to revenue. Apple MacBook Neo could expand market reach, says Bank of America
- Positive Sentiment: Big-investor backing and quality-story momentum — Coverage notes renewed institutional confidence (including mentions of Buffett and Ken Griffin), reinforcing Apple’s “quality tech” status and supporting investor demand in choppy markets. Here’s Why Warren Buffett and Ken Griffin Love Apple (AAPL)
- Neutral Sentiment: CEO Tim Cook stock sale disclosed — Tim Cook sold roughly $16.5M of Apple shares. The filing increases headline risk and can spur short-term noise, but context (routine diversification vs. signal of concern) will shape investor reaction. Apple (AAPL) Stock Holds Strong Despite CEO’s $16.5M Share Sale
- Neutral Sentiment: Legal fight with Epic escalates — Apple has filed to take parts of the Epic Games App Store dispute back to the U.S. Supreme Court; continued litigation raises liability and operating-risk headlines but no immediate earnings impact. Apple plans Supreme Court appeal in Epic Games App Store battle — again
- Neutral Sentiment: App-store compliance in China — Apple removed a high-profile app (Bitchat) from the China App Store at Beijing’s request, underscoring regulatory sensitivity in a key market; this is a reputational/regulatory access risk but not an immediate revenue hit. Apple Removes Jack Dorsey’s Bitchat From China App Store
- Negative Sentiment: Foldable iPhone engineering snags — Nikkei/Reuters report testing problems that could push mass-production and shipments back by months, creating the risk of missed launch/timing-driven revenue and margin upside tied to a new product category. Apple’s foldable iPhone encounters engineering snags, faces potential shipment delays, Nikkei Asia reports
- Negative Sentiment: China AI patent/regulatory setbacks — Apple temporarily pulled Apple Intelligence in China amid regulator pushback, and a China court ruling upholding key AI patents tied to a small rival raises potential infringement exposure and uncertainty for Apple’s AI rollout in its second-largest market. These items increase regulatory and legal execution risk for AI features and services in China. Apple China AI Setback Puts Regulatory Risk In Investor Focus Xiao-I (AIXI) jumps 166.9% as investors react to China top-court ruling upholding key AI patents in Apple dispute
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. The trade was a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. The trade was a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple
Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. WESPAC Advisors LLC now owns 12,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Interactive Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. American Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,151 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orion Investment Co raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Orion Investment Co now owns 14,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,902,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Apple Trading Up 1.1%
Apple stock opened at $258.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $260.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.73, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. Apple has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $288.62.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.15%.
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.
Further Reading
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