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

KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a sector weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. KeyCorp currently has $200.00 price target 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 equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.91.

Apple Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $233.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $227.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.05.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 62,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 3,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 64,278 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares during the period. GenWealth Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. now owns 10,667 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,829,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Birch Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 72,025 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,351,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.