Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Apple has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 35 analysts, with 22 buy ratings and an average 12-month price target of about $308.74. Recent analyst calls were mixed, ranging from Barclays’ underweight view to Wedbush’s bullish $400 target.
• The company continues to show strong operating momentum, with its latest quarterly results beating expectations on both earnings and revenue. Apple reported $2.01 EPS on $111.18 billion in revenue, and revenue rose 16.6% year over year.
• Investors are focused on growth beyond the iPhone, especially Apple’s Services business and new Apple Intelligence features. The article also notes ongoing regulatory and competitive pressure, including an Indian antitrust probe and rivals like Samsung and Google advancing AI hardware.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirty-five research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation, twenty-two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $308.7429.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $253.00 price target (up from $248.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $400.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is rolling out new Apple Intelligence features, including AI-powered accessibility tools and planned iOS 27 upgrades such as smarter writing help, Shortcuts improvements, and wallpaper features, reinforcing the view that AI can drive the next phase of growth. Apple announces Apple Intelligence powered accessibility feature updates
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple recent articles highlight Apple’s Services business as a major profit engine, suggesting investors are starting to value Apple less as just an iPhone maker and more as a higher-margin platform company. AAPL: Forget the iPhone—Services Will Drive the Next Phase of Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Apple remains near record levels, with commentary pointing to strong iPhone and Services performance and analyst targets well above current trading ranges, which supports the bullish valuation narrative. Apple Trades Close to 52-Week High: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional investors continue to add Apple exposure, including a new near-$1 billion stake from Viking Global, signaling ongoing big-money confidence in AAPL. Viking Global Opens Fresh Apple Stake Worth Nearly $1 Billion As Big Tech Trade Roars Back
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s return of Fortnite to the App Store removes one high-profile friction point, but it also keeps attention on Apple’s App Store control and ongoing platform disputes. Fortnite Returns to the App Store Amid Clashes With Apple
• Negative Sentiment: An Indian court ordered Apple to fully cooperate in an App Store antitrust probe, adding to regulatory risk around Apple’s platform practices and potential penalties. Indian court tells Apple to 'cooperate' in antitrust case
• Negative Sentiment: Samsung and Google unveiled AI smart glasses to challenge Meta and Apple, underscoring intensifying competition in next-generation consumer AI hardware. Samsung and Google Announce AI Smart Glasses to Challenge Meta and Apple
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Apple’s global Formula 1 streaming ambitions may take time to expand beyond the U.S. because of differing international media-rights cycles, limiting the near-term boost from that deal. After U.S. deal, Apple's global F1 push may take time

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $298.97 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $303.20. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Apple will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,759 shares of company stock worth $24,964,305. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Isthmus Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 5,808 shares during the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 110.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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