Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Upgraded at Phillip Securities

Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a moderate sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday morning,Zacks.com reports.

AAPL has been the topic of several other reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $315.00 target price (down from $330.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Melius Research set a $345.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. CLSA lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.70.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $269.48 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $268.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.84. Apple has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.15%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EWA LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 57.6% during the fourth quarter. EWA LLC now owns 50,485 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,725,000 after buying an additional 18,449 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,751,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Apeiron RIA LLC now owns 16,077 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,348,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 1,343,979 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $365,374,000 after acquiring an additional 176,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vectors Research Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 25.9% during the 4th quarter. Vectors Research Management LLC now owns 40,696 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,064,000 after acquiring an additional 8,376 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong fundamentals and analyst support — Wall Street analysts are reiterating buys and raising price targets after Apple’s strong quarter and iPhone 17 demand, which underpins revenue and margin upside. Apple Inc.: Reaffirmed Buy on Strengthening Services Ecosystem and Broad-Based App Store Recovery
• Positive Sentiment: AI/tooling integration that can boost developer ecosystem — Apple added agentic coding support (Anthropic’s Claude Agent and OpenAI’s Codex) to Xcode, which could accelerate app development and stickiness in the App Store over time. Apple adds agents from Anthropic and OpenAI to its coding tool
• Positive Sentiment: Sentiment drivers and media endorsements — high-profile bullish commentary (e.g., Jim Cramer) and inflows into innovation ETFs that include Apple support near‑term momentum and investor confidence. Jim Cramer Says “I Think Apple’s Quarter Was Fantastic and Its Future Remains Bright”
• Neutral Sentiment: Content/brand initiatives — Apple TV+ will debut Mattel’s “Matchbox The Movie” in October; small for near‑term revenues but supports services/brand extension. Apple TV sets October launch for Mattel’s ‘Matchbox’ car movie
• Neutral Sentiment: Market chatter and unusual data points — several feeds report odd/zero short‑interest figures for February (likely data noise) and high search/activity around AAPL; useful for gauging retail attention but not a direct fundamental catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: AI talent drain — reports Apple has lost several AI researchers to Meta and Google, which raises execution risk for long‑term AI initiatives versus better-funded rivals. Apple Loses More AI Researchers to Meta and Google
• Negative Sentiment: Supply competition from AI chip demand — TSMC capacity is being stretched by Nvidia’s AI ramp, which could pressure Apple’s manufacturing cadence or component availability if capacity constraints persist. Nvidia’s AI Takeover Leaves Apple Fighting for Supply

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.