Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Sets New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $245.00 to $261.00. Barclays currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $353.68 and last traded at $353.3860, with a volume of 21,762,526 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $331.90.

AAPL has been the subject of several other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Melius Research set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $310.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,392 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $345.05, for a total value of $480,309.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 17,539 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,051,831.95. This trade represents a 7.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $343.36, for a total transaction of $823,720.64. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,123,490.56. This represents a 6.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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 $114.48 billion and EPS of $2.10, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 11.7% year over year, led by iPhone strength. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s strong free cash flow and relatively low AI-related capital spending support its appeal as a more financially disciplined alternative to companies investing heavily in AI infrastructure. The Motley Fool article
• Positive Sentiment: A long-delayed trial of Apple Intelligence in China could help close a gap in the company’s AI offering in a major market. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views are divided: Melius Research initiated coverage with a strong-buy rating, while DZ Bank downgraded Apple to sell with a $300 target. MarketBeat analyst ratings
• Negative Sentiment: The main near-term concern is Apple’s forecast for a 45%–46% holiday-quarter gross margin, below the prior quarter, as memory prices rise and Siri AI adds costs. This outlook has overshadowed strong results and holiday revenue expectations. The Motley Fool article
• Negative Sentiment: Apple disclosed $89.7 billion in manufacturing purchase obligations, much of it due within a year, while memory costs are climbing—raising concern about margin pressure and inventory commitments. 24/7 Wall St. article
• Negative Sentiment: Slower expected Services growth and a premium valuation add to investor caution, even as the company’s broader business remains profitable. Yahoo Finance article

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 4.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $182,897,769,000 after purchasing an additional 28,321,085 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Apple by 23.2% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after acquiring an additional 13,780,080 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $334.05 and a 200 day moving average of $297.13. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 27.60% and a return on equity of 128.88%. The company had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $113.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 12.39%.

Apple Company Profile

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.