Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Earns "Buy" Rating from DA Davidson

Key Points

• DA Davidson has reaffirmed its "buy" rating for Apple, setting a target price of $250.00, indicating a potential upside of 23.53% from current levels.
• Apple stock experienced a decline of 2.5%, closing at $202.38, after trading 97 million shares against an average volume of 57 million shares.
• Apple's recent earnings report showed a notable revenue increase of 9.6% year-over-year, with EPS of $1.57 exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.43.

DA Davidson reiterated their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $250.00 price objective on the iPhone maker's stock. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Apple's Q4 2025 earnings at $1.80 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $7.71 EPS.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.25.

Apple Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $5.19 on Friday, reaching $202.38. 97,423,066 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 44,912,472. Apple has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50 day moving average price is $205.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $213.77.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 172.48% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in Apple by 333.3% during the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Company Profile

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.