Wedbush Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective lifted by analysts at Wedbush from $250.00 to $270.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Wedbush’s target price indicates a potential upside of 31.48% from the stock’s previous close. Wedbush also issued estimates for Apple’s Q3 2025 earnings at $1.34 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.51 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $6.90 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.37 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.65 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.55 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.40 EPS.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 target price (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.17.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $205.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day moving average of $212.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $228.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple 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. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its position in Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $787,631,000 after acquiring an additional 588,427 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,039,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 7.4% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 482,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $112,402,000 after buying an additional 33,187 shares during the period. Finally, Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Pacific Wealth Strategies Group Inc. now owns 28,082 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,543,000 after buying an additional 475 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Company Profile

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.