Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Monness Crespi & Hardt Analyst Says

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price target boosted by research analysts at Monness Crespi & Hardt from $300.00 to $315.00 in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 21.40% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $315.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $276.47 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.23.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $259.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.09. Apple has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $268.38 and its 200 day moving average is $251.72.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 171.22%. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.40 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its holdings in Apple by 333.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 52.1% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record quarter driven by iPhone 17 and China — Apple beat revenue and EPS expectations, reported record iPhone sales and gave strong March-quarter revenue/margin guidance, supporting bullish near-term fundamentals. Apple sales, profit beat
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price-target increases — Several firms raised targets and reiterated buy ratings after the beat (including TD Cowen, JPMorgan, Monness Crespi & Hardt), which supports upside sentiment among institutional investors. Analyst notes
• Neutral Sentiment: AI strategy remains ambiguous — Apple announced partnerships (e.g., Google Gemini) and made AI-related M&A (Q.ai), but offered limited execution details; these moves signal intent but leave monetization and competitive positioning unclear. AI details unclear
• Neutral Sentiment: Potential supply-chain diversification — Reports that Apple is exploring U.S. foundry partners (e.g., Intel) could ease long-term sourcing risk but are early-stage and not an immediate fix for 2026 capacity issues. Intel foundry reports
• Negative Sentiment: Rising memory-chip costs and shortages — Apple warned memory prices are beginning to bite; suppliers like Samsung and SK Hynix are prioritizing AI chips, tightening supply and pressuring gross margins if costs stay elevated. Memory cost warning
• Negative Sentiment: iPhone production constraints — Multiple reports say TSMC/other chip shortages are limiting Apple’s ability to meet iPhone demand, forcing Apple to prioritize premium models and potentially capping unit growth despite strong demand. TSMC supply short
• Negative Sentiment: Talent and execution questions in AI — Reports of AI researcher departures and commentary that the Google partnership could limit Apple’s AI upside have soured investor enthusiasm for Apple’s AI prospects. AI researcher departures

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.