Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Up 3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rose 3% during trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $305.00 to $315.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $256.56 and last traded at $255.41. Approximately 55,127,347 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 12% from the average daily volume of 49,232,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $248.04.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $276.47 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target and reiterated a bullish view, citing strong iPhone demand and upside into the quarter — a high‑profile upgrade that supports buying interest. Apple gets price target boost from JPMorgan ahead of earnings
• Positive Sentiment: iPhone sales and market share gains in India are being highlighted ahead of earnings, helping optimism about hardware momentum and the services upsell potential. Why Shares of Apple Are Rising Today
• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs and other firms are sticking with Buy ratings and framing AAPL’s pullback as a buying opportunity, which encourages dip‑buyers before earnings. Goldman Sticks With Apple (AAPL) Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: Product and AI catalysts (new AirTag, App Store ad expansion in March, reports of a Gemini‑powered Siri and potential AI health services) boost conviction in both hardware refreshes and recurring revenue streams. Apple Stock Bounces: What’s Driving The Buying Interest? Apple’s Expanded Ad Opportunities For Developers Coming in March
• Neutral Sentiment: High expectations ahead of the Jan. 29 earnings print are lifting volatility and positioning; options and analyst previews are driving short‑term flows but also create risk around the print. Apple earnings expectations are ‘high’ even though it has underperformed
• Neutral Sentiment: Household‑name investors are reshaping tech exposure rather than exiting — recent filings show large Apple share sales paired with long‑dated call purchases, which reads as cashing gains while retaining upside via options. Markets may parse this as rotation/positioning rather than a pure sell signal. Pelosi’s $69M Trade Filing Shows Apple Trim and Fresh Megacap Call Bets
• Negative Sentiment: Some outlets report retail outflows and cautious posturing from firms like KeyBanc, which temper optimism and highlight the risk that AAPL could lag other AI‑focused megacaps if consumer/AI momentum slows. Retail Investors Dump Apple Stock KeyBanc Remains Cautious on Apple Stock Ahead of Q1
• Negative Sentiment: Legal headlines (reports of a combined Apple/Google settlement) and macro risks (Fed decision, tariff talk) add potential near‑term downside if headlines amplify before earnings. Google, Apple to pay combined $163M to settle lawsuits

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. increased its holdings in Apple by 13.2% in the second quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the second quarter. Monarch Capital Management Inc. now owns 66,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,740,000 after acquiring an additional 2,920 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust grew its position in Apple by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the second quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC now owns 397,834 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $101,301,000 after buying an additional 8,446 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 3.0%

The company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $269.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

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.