Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Downgraded to “Underweight” at KeyCorp

KeyCorp cut shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) from a sector weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $200.00 target price on the iPhone maker’s stock. KeyCorp also issued estimates for Apple’s Q1 2025 earnings at $2.34 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.57 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.48 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.66 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $7.05 EPS.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $186.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.91.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $231.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $226.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $210.06. Apple has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.0% during the first quarter. Bright Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 62,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,632,000 after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.4% during the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 3,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the first quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 64,278 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,022,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278 shares in the last quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the first quarter. GenWealth Group Inc. now owns 10,667 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,829,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Birch Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 72,025 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,351,000 after acquiring an additional 462 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Apple

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.