Zacks Research Has Positive Forecast for Apple Q3 Earnings

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research lifted their Q3 2027 EPS estimates for shares of Apple in a report released on Tuesday, September 23rd. Zacks Research analyst Team now forecasts that the iPhone maker will post earnings per share of $1.96 for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.95. The consensus estimate for Apple’s current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Wedbush set a $310.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.66.

Apple Trading Up 1.8%

AAPL opened at $256.87 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.11. Apple has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $227.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 573,627.2% during the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,942,255,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PKS Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 57,898,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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.