Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Remains Unchanged Following Analyst Upgrade

On Tuesday, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) saw its stock trade up by 0% after Wells Fargo & Company announced an upgrade, increasing their price target for the shares to $275.00. Currently, Wells Fargo holds a buy rating on Apple, reflecting confidence in the company's future performance. During the trading session, Apple reached a high of $247.79 before settling at $246.80. The volume of shares traded was 7,815,164, which is significantly lower, declining by 86% from its average trading volume of 57,475,996 shares. The previous close was at $246.75.

Other Analyst Ratings

Several other analysts have also provided insights on AAPL recently. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating with a target price of $260.00 in a note released on November 1st. Similarly, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a price target of $273.00 on November 25th. Citigroup's update suggested a price target increase to $185.00 along with a "buy" rating, published on October 23rd. Tigress Financial adjusted its target on Apple shares from $245.00 to $295.00, giving it a "strong-buy" rating in August. Moreover, Rosenblatt Securities raised its price target slightly from $261.00 to $262.00, maintaining a "buy" stance in their report dated November 1st. Overall, there are two analysts recommending a sell, twelve suggesting hold, twenty-three proposing buy, and one issuing a strong buy rating, with an average rating of "Moderate Buy" according to MarketBeat data.

Insider Trading Activity

In related news, Apple’s CFO, Luca Maestri, sold 59,305 shares on October 4th at an average price of $226.52, totaling approximately $13.4 million. After this transaction, he retained 107,788 shares valued at over $24 million, marking a decrease in his ownership by 35.49%. Another insider, Chris Kondo, sold 4,130 shares on November 18th at $228.87 per share, which amounted to around $945,233.10. His holding now consists of 15,419 shares worth about $3.5 million, reflecting a 21.13% decrease in his stake. Notably, insiders sold 408,170 shares valued at nearly $92 million over the last three months. Company insiders currently own a mere 0.06% of the stock.

Institutional Investors' Insights

Recent activity from institutional investors shows a notable shift in holdings. State Street Corp increased its stake in Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter, now owning 584 million shares worth $136 billion. FMR LLC also raised its position by 5.3%, acquiring 363 million shares valued at approximately $84.8 billion. Geode Capital Management grew its holdings by 6.5%, with 333.9 million shares worth about $77.5 billion. Similarly, Charles Schwab Investment Management boosted its stake by 6.6%, holding around 94.9 million shares worth $22.1 billion. Remarkably, International Assets Investment Management's stake surged by over 20,000%, owning 94.3 million shares valued at over $219 billion after acquiring nearly 94 million additional shares. Overall, institutional investors own 67.73% of Apple's stock.

Apple's Market Performance

As of now, Apple boasts a market capitalization of $3.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.59, and a P/E/G ratio of 2.38. The stock's 50-day moving average is $230.80, while its 200-day moving average stands at $222.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87, and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Recent Earnings and Dividends

Apple announced its quarterly earnings results on October 31st, where it reported earnings per share of $1.64, surpassing the projected estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company recorded revenues of $94.93 billion against the expected $94.52 billion, reflecting a year-over-year revenue increase of 6.1%. Apple's net margin was 23.97%, with an impressive return on equity of 152.94%. Analysts expect the company to post an EPS of 7.43 for the current fiscal year. Additionally, Apple declared a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share that was paid on November 14th to shareholders on record as of November 11th, making for an annualized dividend of $1.00 and a yield of 0.41%. The dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

About Apple

Apple Inc. is a leading technology company that designs, manufactures, and markets a variety of innovative electronic devices and software. Their product lineup includes the iPhone smartphone series, the Mac line of personal computers, the iPad tablet series, wearable devices like the Apple Watch, and accessories such as AirPods and Apple TV.

Apple, Stocks, Analysts