Zacks Research Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for Apple

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) - Analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q2 2027 earnings estimates for shares of Apple in a report issued on Wednesday, June 11th. Zacks Research analyst A. Ganguly now expects that the iPhone maker will earn $2.03 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.06. The consensus estimate for Apple's current full-year earnings is $7.28 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Apple's FY2027 earnings at $8.66 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $2.75 on Friday, hitting $196.45. The stock had a trading volume of 51,345,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,804,317. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company's 50 day moving average price is $201.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.37.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.