Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 1.4% – Here’s Why

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) fell 1.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $260.05 and last traded at $260.58. 30,416,072 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 53,444,227 shares. The stock had previously closed at $264.35.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple TV struck a commercial-distribution deal with EverPass Media to bring live sports streams into bars, hotels, gyms and restaurants — a clear push to expand paid/advertising reach for Apple TV in the commercial market. Apple TV partners with EverPass Media
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reiterated an Outperform stance and high price target on AAPL, signaling institutional confidence that Apple’s AI/wearables roadmap and services expansion justify upside. Wedbush Reaffirms Outperform
• Positive Sentiment: Several investment managers have added to Apple positions recently (e.g., Woodline, Driehaus), indicating active buy-side interest from some funds. Woodline boosts Apple stake
• Positive Sentiment: Product extensions that support ecosystem monetization — Apple Pay installments in stores and expansion of CarKey support (Toyota) — help services revenue and stickiness for iPhone users. Apple Pay pushes installments
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is publicly pushing into AI-powered wearables (reports of smart glasses, new AirPods/pendant and related Siri upgrades). This is long-term constructive but timing and execution remain uncertain for investors. Apple bets on AI wearables
• Neutral Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its Apple stake in the latest 13F filings — a headline-risk item but Berkshire still holds a very large position, so the move signals rebalancing more than loss of confidence. Berkshire pares Apple stake
• Negative Sentiment: Legal headlines: reports surfaced that Apple is being sued over the alleged role of iCloud in distributing child sexual abuse material, and West Virginia’s attorney general publicly accused Apple of inaction — these allegations raise regulatory, litigation and reputational risk. Apple sued over CSAM reports
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern over delays to Siri/AI feature rollouts has pressured the stock — even after a strong earnings beat (Q1 revenue and EPS topped expectations), market participants are punishing perceived AI execution risk. Siri delay concerns after earnings

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.13.

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.97.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $143.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.25 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 159.94% and a net margin of 27.04%.The business’s revenue was up 15.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. WealthPoint Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $1,664,000. Van Diest Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $1,609,000. Compound Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 469,753 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $127,707,000 after buying an additional 83,243 shares in the last quarter. Claris Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $9,400,000. Finally, TMB Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,567,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

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.