Wedbush Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating restated by Wedbush in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $350.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. Wedbush’s price target indicates a potential upside of 28.95% from the stock’s previous close.

AAPL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $239.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $301.33.

Apple Stock Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $271.41 on Tuesday. Apple has a 1-year low of $193.25 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $259.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $264.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.11.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $138.25 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Balance Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. Balance Wealth LLC now owns 10,861 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $278,560,000. Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Parkway Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 19,245 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,013,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Penobscot Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Penobscot Wealth Management now owns 23,057 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,060,000 after purchasing an additional 11,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoge Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Hoge Financial Services LLC now owns 7,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. 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: Wall Street supportive — some analysts reaffirm bullish views and see the succession as orderly, which reduces immediate governance risk; Daniel Ives reiterated a Buy and called investor reactions “mixed” but constructive. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market tailwinds: Nasdaq/S&P futures are higher on hopes for earnings momentum, AI spending and easing geopolitics — Apple’s CEO transition is being priced as a manageable event amid broader tech strength. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Leadership continuity on product/engineering: Apple promoted Johny Srouji to a combined hardware role while elevating John Ternus to CEO — investors interpret this as a commitment to hardware execution and next‑gen devices. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Official transition details: Apple confirmed Cook will become executive chairman and Ternus will take over as CEO on Sept. 1 — a planned, board‑approved succession that limits surprise risk but shifts leadership responsibility ahead of key catalysts. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Big strategic question: analysts emphasize Ternus must accelerate Apple’s AI roadmap to match peers; coverage highlights this as the defining challenge for the next era. Expect headlines and guidance around AI and product roadmaps to drive sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed sell‑side signals and modestly cautious price targets: Rosenblatt reaffirmed a Neutral rating with a $268 target (slightly below current), showing some analysts are taking a conservative stance ahead of the transition and earnings. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Near‑term risk factors: unusual put activity ahead of earnings and a regulatory flashpoint in India (with a potential large fine and fast‑tracked hearing) are downside catalysts investors are monitoring into the April 30 earnings release. Read More. · Read More.

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.