Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report)’s share price rose 2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $294.76 and last traded at $293.2520. Approximately 50,414,789 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 47,344,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $287.44.
Key Apple News
Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Wedbush raised Apple’s price target to $400 and kept an Outperform rating, saying AI features and monetization could drive a new growth phase. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
- Positive Sentiment: Apple and Intel reportedly reached a preliminary chip-manufacturing deal, which could support Apple’s device supply chain and strengthen its U.S. production footprint. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
- Neutral Sentiment: Apple also agreed to a $250 million settlement over Siri AI advertising claims, which resolves a legal overhang but highlights execution risk around its AI messaging. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back
- Neutral Sentiment: Apple faces renewed antitrust scrutiny from Rave in multiple countries over App Store removal, adding another legal issue investors may watch. Rave Sues Apple in Five Countries Over App Store Removal
Analysts Set New Price Targets
AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Maxim Group raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $305.74.
Apple Trading Up 2.0%
The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $261.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.04.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.73 EPS for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.58%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This trade represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacific Sun Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Pacific Sun Financial Corp now owns 41,604 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,559,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth about $11,897,000. Burling Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burling Wealth Partners LLC now owns 130,018 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $32,997,000 after buying an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Andra AP fonden boosted its holdings in Apple by 72.7% during the first quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 2,179,667 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $553,178,000 after buying an additional 917,479 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.7% during the first quarter. Summit Asset Management LLC now owns 43,795 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,115,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
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.
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