Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Up 3.5% on Analyst Upgrade

Posted by on Jul 24th, 2026

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report)’s share price shot up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $310.00 to $330.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Apple traded as high as $334.37 and last traded at $333.02. 47,281,316 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average session volume of 50,310,352 shares. The stock had previously closed at $321.66.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on AAPL. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $380.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.40.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Apple

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total value of $369,460.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,226,770. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 3.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock has a market cap of $4.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $305.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $278.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The company had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Apple Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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