Apple’s (AAPL) “Underweight” Rating Reiterated at KeyCorp

KeyCorp restated their underweight rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. KeyCorp currently has a $250.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

AAPL has been the topic of several other reports. DZ Bank cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $310.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Seaport Research Partners lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $350.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $370.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $343.74.

Apple Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $344.17 on Tuesday. Apple has a 1 year low of $243.42 and a 1 year high of $355.38. The company has a market cap of $5.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $335.46 and its 200 day moving average is $298.03.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 125.35% and a net margin of 27.60%. The business had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.85 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple will post 9.64 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.39%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,280 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $345.40, for a total value of $442,112.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,224,675.20. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $325.75, for a total value of $781,474.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,997 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,771,522.75. The trade was a 7.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 291,651 shares of company stock valued at $97,082,537 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 630,662,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $182,897,769,000 after acquiring an additional 28,321,085 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,443,242,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Apple by 23.2% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 73,082,616 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,547,637,000 after purchasing an additional 13,780,080 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple beat fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, with revenue of $114.5 billion and solid iPhone and Mac demand. The results support the view that product demand remains healthy. Apple shares fell despite a double beat in Q4
• Positive Sentiment: Bernstein raised its price target to $380 and kept a Buy rating, citing potential upside from Apple’s business prospects. Bernstein rating and price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is reportedly seeking up to $7 billion through a bond offering. The borrowing adds financing flexibility, but the reports did not specify how proceeds would be used. Apple seeks about $7 billion from bond sale
• Negative Sentiment: Management flagged memory-chip costs that could keep rising, along with supply constraints ahead of the December quarter. These pressures may weigh on margins even as demand remains strong. Supply constraints and rising memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also scrutinizing earnings quality: tariff refunds boosted reported profit metrics, making the underlying results less straightforward to assess. Investors revisit Apple earnings quality
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst caution and valuation concerns add to the headwinds. DZ Bank cut Apple to Sell, while coverage also points to slower Services growth and a premium share valuation. DZ Bank downgrades Apple

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.