Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 2.7% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 2.7% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $289.94 and last traded at $289.36. 64,489,217 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 28% from the average session volume of 50,556,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $281.74.

Key Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple reportedly acquired the team behind the Play app, signaling continued investment in new product ideas and a stronger innovation engine. Apple Just Acquired the Team Behind the Play App. What That Means for AAPL Stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and market commentators say Apple may benefit from a favorable July trading pattern and recent selloff-driven valuation appeal. Why you need to buy Apple stock in July
• Positive Sentiment: Some reports argue Apple’s price hikes may not hurt earnings as much as feared because of its pricing power and loyal customer base. Apple (AAPL) Raising Device Prices May Not Hurt Earnings as Much as Investors Fear
• Neutral Sentiment: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear Apple’s appeal in the Epic Games App Store fees case, extending the antitrust fight but not yet changing the rules. US Supreme Court to hear Apple appeal of contempt in Epic Games lawsuit
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple is accelerating security updates and reshaping its AI strategy, which supports long-term resilience but is not an immediate earnings catalyst. Apple says it is releasing updates early in response to AI cybersecurity concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Apple’s broader rally is being offset by worries over rising memory costs, which have forced price increases across Macs and iPads and raised concern about near-term demand. Apple Is Raising Prices Due to Higher Memory Costs. Is the Stock in Trouble?
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of a Tata Electronics data leak exposing iPhone 18 Pro supplier details and internal files are adding supply-chain and execution risk. Apple (AAPL) Seeks Blacklisted China Chip Approval As Supplier Breach Raises Risk
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is also facing renewed regulatory pressure in the U.K. and India over App Store fees and antitrust issues, which could threaten service margins over time. UK regulator tightens focus on Apple and Google’s app store ecosystem

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, June 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $314.85.

Apple Trading Up 2.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $292.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $273.20. The stock has a market cap of $4.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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 return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The company had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $369,460.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,226,770. This represents a 3.19% 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, 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $17,472,482,000. Cardano Risk Management B.V. lifted its position in Apple by 890.7% in the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,413,990,000 after buying an additional 37,746,784 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 20,464.8% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,553,753,000 after buying an additional 26,937,401 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after buying an additional 26,856,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

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.