Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Has Average Target Price of $343.74

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the forty-three research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, twenty-five have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $347.11.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. HSBC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 46,389 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.42, for a total transaction of $15,467,020.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,615,190.20. This represents a 25.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Timothy Cook sold 191,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total value of $63,846,078.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,264,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,086,837,377.28. The trade was a 5.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 292,611 shares of company stock valued at $97,482,597. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

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

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $356.27 on Wednesday. Apple has a one year low of $243.42 and a one year high of $360.83. The stock has a market cap of $5.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $339.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $301.05.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 125.35% and a net margin of 27.60%. The company had revenue of $114.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 9.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 12.04%.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Investors following AAPL have been watching these headlines:

• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein cited Apple’s relatively defensive business as a safe haven amid an AI-sector selloff, helping attract investors as Nvidia weakness put pressure on technology stocks. Apple stock gains as Bernstein highlights safe-haven appeal
• Neutral Sentiment: HomeView is not launching in the EU because Siri AI is unavailable there, and early coverage has questioned Siri’s readiness. This could constrain the device’s initial reach and reception. HomeView launch coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a key risk: analysts have warned Apple trades at a premium, and views are divided, including a DZ Bank downgrade to Sell. A senior vice president also continued a pattern of scheduled share sales, a modest potential overhang. Apple valuation analysis

About Apple

Apple Inc. designs, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad, Apple Watch and AirPods, along with operating systems and applications such as iOS, macOS and iPadOS. The company also offers services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud and Apple Pay. These products and services are integrated across Apple’s devices and are sold to consumers, businesses and institutions around the world. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Cupertino, California, Apple serves customers globally through online and retail stores, wireless carriers and other resellers.