Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 4.1% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after KGI Securities upgraded the stock to an outperform rating. KGI Securities now has a $306.00 price target on the stock. Apple traded as high as $270.49 and last traded at $270.0480. 73,462,659 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 41% from the average session volume of 52,093,203 shares. The stock had previously closed at $259.48.

AAPL has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Maxim Group raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Argus set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $290.28.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Market confidence after a strong quarter and analyst bullishness: several firms reiterated/raised ratings and price targets (JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, TD Cowen, Maxim, BofA highlighted Apple’s iPhone strength and AI opportunity), supporting upside momentum. JPMorgan bullish on Apple’s results
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI launched a Codex app that works with Apple computers — a sign of deeper AI ecosystem integration that could boost Mac demand and developer engagement. OpenAI Codex for Apple computers
• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly acquired Israeli AI audio startup Q.ai for ~ $2B, broadening Apple’s AI capabilities and product pipeline. M&A signals long-term AI strategy execution. Apple acquires Q.ai
• Positive Sentiment: India policy win: the government cleared foreign-funded equipment for contract manufacturers in designated areas, easing capital deployment and aiding Apple’s onshore manufacturing expansion. India allows foreign funding for manufacturers
• Neutral Sentiment: Payments and services: Apple Pay usage rose in stores but still processes a minority of eligible transactions, indicating growth opportunity but competitive pressure in wallets and payments monetization. Apple Pay usage report
• Negative Sentiment: Supply-chain and chip capacity risks: reports say TSMC is prioritizing AI-related demand (Nvidia), which could tighten capacity for Apple chips and constrain iPhone supply or margins next quarter. Analysts and articles flagged possible near-term production pressure. TSMC capacity and supply concerns
• Negative Sentiment: AI talent losses: reports of several AI researchers leaving Apple for Meta/Google raise questions about pace of AI R&D relative to competitors — a potential long-term headwind for AI feature rollout. Apple loses AI researchers

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 98,917.0% in the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,106,000 after purchasing an additional 57,898,088 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 20,464.8% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after acquiring an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 4.1%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.15%.

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.