Apple’s (AAPL) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a research report issued on Sunday.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $365.00 target price on Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $338.80.

Apple Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $333.08. The company had a trading volume of 38,778,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 41,121,848. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $318.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $293.06. The firm has a market cap of $4.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.08. Apple has a 1-year low of $235.03 and a 1-year high of $344.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.13. Apple had a return on equity of 135.46% and a net margin of 27.62%.The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.23, for a total value of $456,176.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 34,352 shares in the company, valued at $10,897,484.96. The trade was a 4.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total value of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,310 shares of company stock valued at $2,279,378. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,950,297,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $36,986,090,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth $30,443,242,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 75,000,920 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,389,750,000 after purchasing an additional 2,725,121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain bullish on the iPhone cycle. Bank of America reaffirmed its Buy rating and $370 price target, citing encouraging iPhone 18 trends and potential artificial-intelligence upside. JPMorgan also maintained a Buy rating, pointing to the longer-term opportunity from the iPhone 18 cycle and foldable Duo. Apple Buy Rating Reaffirmed
• Positive Sentiment: The iPhone Duo is fueling growth expectations. Analysts and industry observers believe Apple’s first foldable iPhone could expand the premium smartphone market, strengthen the product cycle and create a new source of revenue and earnings growth. Can New iPhone Duo Power Apple’s Stock Higher?
• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s antitrust exposure has eased. Elon Musk’s X Corp. and SpaceXAI moved to resolve or dismiss their antitrust claims against Apple related to its ChatGPT integration, reducing one legal overhang, although related claims against OpenAI continue. Musk’s X Corp and SpaceXAI Resolve Antitrust Lawsuit
• Neutral Sentiment: iPhone 18 Pro pre-orders are sending mixed signals. Delivery estimates are generally shorter than during last year’s iPhone 17 launch, which could indicate softer demand, but may also reflect supply improvements or customers waiting for the iPhone Duo. Apple iPhone 18 Pro Pre-orders Point to Mixed Demand Signals
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple released iOS 27 with a redesigned Siri. The update expands Apple’s AI capabilities, but the initial waitlist and support for existing devices could limit near-term iPhone replacement demand. Apple Releases Redesigned Siri AI
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and cost risks remain. With Apple trading near its 52-week high at a premium earnings multiple, investors may demand strong Duo adoption. Reports of sharply higher memory prices could pressure hardware margins or force price increases, while OpenAI’s acquisition of an AI-camera startup founded by former Apple employees highlights intensifying competition in AI-enabled devices. Apple CEO Warns of Memory Price Crisis

About Apple

Apple Inc is a technology company that designs, develops and markets consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its principal products include the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware products.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, Apple Fitness+, Apple News+, Apple Pay and iCloud. These services provide digital content, payments, cloud storage and subscription offerings across the company’s ecosystem of devices.

Founded in 1976, Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, California, and serves consumers, businesses, educational institutions and government customers worldwide.