Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Falls 1.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded down 1.9% during trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $360.00 to $355.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple traded as low as $325.33 and last traded at $331.90. 61,120,763 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 26% from the average session volume of 48,389,336 shares. The stock had previously closed at $338.32.

AAPL has been the topic of several other research reports. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Guggenheim set a $400.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO John Ternus sold 25,412 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $332.94, for a total value of $8,460,671.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 59,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,832,236.98. The trade was a 29.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.40, for a total transaction of $442,112.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,224,675.20. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 289,252 shares of company stock worth $96,301,063 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported fiscal Q4 revenue of $114.5 billion and EPS of $2.10, beating estimates. iPhone revenue rose 17.5% to $57.6 billion, while Mac sales and Services also contributed to a record quarter. The company forecasts holiday-quarter revenue growth of 7%–10%. Apple Q4 earnings beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive after the results: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating, citing resilient iPhone demand and longer-term growth potential. Bank of America’s view on Apple
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views and price targets were mixed: JPMorgan trimmed its target to $355 but maintained an Overweight rating, while other firms raised targets or remained cautious. JPMorgan price-target update
• Negative Sentiment: The key concern is Apple’s forecast for a 45%–46% gross margin in the December quarter, below the September quarter’s level. Management cited “unprecedented” memory-price increases and costs tied to Siri AI, raising questions about how much profit Apple can retain even with strong sales. Apple faces memory-cost pressure
• Negative Sentiment: Apple’s component inventory and supplier commitments have grown as it secures parts amid the memory crunch, increasing concern about cash tied up in supply and continued cost exposure. Services growth is also expected to slow, while China sales fell short of expectations. Apple’s inventory and memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Apple’s annual filing also identified AI agents behaving unpredictably as a potential business risk, adding to investor questions about whether its AI strategy can protect its ecosystem over time. Apple’s AI-agent risk disclosure

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Compass Wealth Management LLC GA boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC GA now owns 3,549 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,182,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV increased its stake in Apple by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Thor Investment Management Inc. OH ADV now owns 1,912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $637,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Evansbrook LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 1.9%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $333.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.84 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.40 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.