Wedbush Analysts Lower Earnings Estimates for Apple

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Analysts at Wedbush cut their Q3 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Apple in a research note issued on Sunday, April 13th. Wedbush analyst D. Ives now forecasts that the iPhone maker will earn $1.35 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.55. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for Apple’s Q4 2025 earnings at $1.63 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.43 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.81 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.50 EPS.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $194.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.53.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after buying an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.