JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its target price dropped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $345.00 to $340.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 12.36% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective (down from $253.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $375.00 price objective (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $331.60.

Apple Stock Down 9.2%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $30.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $302.61. 44,797,219 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 50,515,027. Apple has a 12-month low of $201.50 and a 12-month high of $344.57. The business’s fifty day moving average is $309.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.57 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Apple by 1.2% in the second quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 44,726 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,942,000 after buying an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. WealthCare Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 132.8% in the second quarter. WealthCare Asset Management LLC now owns 44,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,802,000 after purchasing an additional 25,241 shares in the last quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the second quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,179,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. GatePass Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. GatePass Capital LLC now owns 5,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after acquiring an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AGP Franklin LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. AGP Franklin LLC now owns 21,592 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,248,000 after acquiring an additional 564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reported a record June quarter, with revenue of $109.4 billion, up 16% year over year, and diluted EPS of $2.02, up 29%. Results exceeded consensus estimates. Apple reports third quarter results
• Positive Sentiment: iPhone revenue surged 22% to $54.3 billion, while Mac revenue rose 29% to $10.4 billion, demonstrating resilient demand even as Apple has raised prices on some products. Apple revenue and profits beat expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s active installed base reached a record, and management highlighted long-term opportunities in consumer AI, including a more capable Siri and potential paid AI features. Several analysts maintained Buy or Overweight ratings, with targets as high as $365. Apple’s hybrid AI strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, payable August 13 to shareholders of record August 10. The company is also launching a U.S. leasing program that could encourage more frequent device upgrades.
• Negative Sentiment: Fourth-quarter revenue guidance of $111.7 billion to $113.7 billion was below the roughly $114.3 billion consensus estimate. Management warned that “very significant” supply constraints would affect iPhones, Macs and iPads, while CEO Tim Cook described memory-price pressure as a “hundred-year flood.” Apple slides as supply snags cloud outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are concerned that rising memory costs will pressure margins and that tariff refunds, which added approximately $0.11 to quarterly EPS and benefited gross margin, will not recur. Apple is evaluating alternatives, including possible product-price increases.
• Negative Sentiment: Services revenue reached a record $30.7 billion but missed expectations, affected by foreign-exchange headwinds, weaker gaming activity and App Store changes. China performance also disappointed, adding to concerns about future growth. Apple services growth concerns
• Negative Sentiment: At approximately 40 times earnings after a sharp rally and a $5 trillion market capitalization, AAPL’s valuation leaves less room for execution or guidance disappointments. Tim Cook’s planned September departure also adds leadership-transition uncertainty.

About Apple

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.