Bank of America Cuts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Price Target to $320.00

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Bank of America from $325.00 to $320.00 in a research note issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 26.67% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on AAPL. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 30th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. CLSA raised their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.58.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $4.63 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $252.62. 7,198,644 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,990,516. Apple has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $260.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $262.37.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.17. Apple had a net margin of 27.04% and a return on equity of 159.94%. The business had revenue of $143.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $164,218,801,000 after buying an additional 6,555,392 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after buying an additional 1,866,103 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $62,659,118,000 after buying an additional 1,379,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,266,468,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: China rebound: coverage notes Apple is regaining share in China (surging iPhone sales, use of e‑commerce discounts and government subsidy qualification), a major demand catalyst that can support revenue growth. Apple’s China Smartphone Push Raises Questions On Margins And Valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Product momentum: reports say Apple’s latest Mac launch was its best ever, helping services and Mac revenue narratives and signaling successful product execution. Apple’s Best-Ever Mac Launch, Google’s Gemini On Mac, Amazon’s ‘Transformer’ Project And More
• Neutral Sentiment: Options flow/volatility: an options piece highlights an iron‑condor setup on AAPL citing elevated implied volatility (~28.6%), suggesting traders see rangebound opportunity rather than a directional conviction — useful for short-term income strategies. High-Probability Apple Iron Condor with 22% Return Potential
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor narratives: weekend recaps and analysis note Apple’s unusual price action vs. long-term patterns and record returns; these are background context for positioning but not immediate catalysts. Apple Stock Is Doing Something It Hasn’t Done Since 2022. Should You Buy or Run?
• Negative Sentiment: Memory/price shock: Apple raised prices on external storage in its stores as an AI-driven memory shortage pushes component costs higher — this creates near-term margin pressure and cost passthrough risk. Apple (AAPL) Storage Prices Jump as AI Memory Shortage Drives Sharp Cost Increases
• Negative Sentiment: Margin squeeze in China: reporting shows Apple is absorbing higher memory chip costs to keep prices competitive in China — good for share but a headwind to margins and near‑term profitability. Apple’s China Smartphone Push Raises Questions On Margins And Valuation
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: EU broadcasters are asking regulators to examine how Big Tech controls smart TV and AI content access, potentially exposing Apple to platform-level rules or content distribution constraints in Europe. EU Broadcasters Target Alphabet, Amazon, Apple Over Smart TV and AI Control

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.