Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Rating Lowered to Underweight at KeyCorp

KeyCorp downgraded shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a sector weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report report published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. KeyCorp currently has $200.00 price objective on the iPhone maker’s stock. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Apple’s Q1 2025 earnings at $2.34 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.57 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.48 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.66 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.05 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Cfra lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $233.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.30, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $227.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.05. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $140,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.