Apple’s (AAPL) Buy Rating Reiterated at TD Cowen

TD Cowen reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in a research note released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a $400.00 price target on the iPhone maker’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 17th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, KGI Securities downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $334.91.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $332.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $318.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.45. Apple has a 52-week low of $229.02 and a 52-week high of $344.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.08.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 10th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 12.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total transaction of $456,177.39. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 35,790 shares in the company, valued at $11,345,787.90. This trade represents a 3.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 7,310 shares of company stock valued at $2,279,378 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Sterling Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,351,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Evansbrook LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Evansbrook LLC now owns 8,095 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd. now owns 5,102 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,295,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 9,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,520,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advocate Investing Services LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Advocate Investing Services LLC now owns 7,847 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,271,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

More Apple News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: iPhone Duo creates a potential new growth cycle. Apple’s $1,999 foldable iPhone, scheduled to arrive October 23, could drive upgrades, deepen ecosystem engagement and add a high-margin premium product category. Some analysts believe foldables could eventually account for 10% to 20% of iPhone revenue. How Wall Street viewed Apple’s foldable iPhone
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see renewed hardware momentum. Alongside the Duo, Apple unveiled the iPhone 18 Pro lineup, new Apple Watch models, AirPods 5 and expanded Siri AI features. TD Cowen maintained a Buy rating with a $400 target, supporting the bullish reaction. TD Cowen reiterates Buy rating
• Positive Sentiment: Carrier promotions could reduce sticker-price resistance. T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon are offering installment and trade-in incentives for the expensive Duo, potentially broadening access without an immediate industrywide price war. Wireless carrier promotions
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains divided. Bank of America retained a Buy rating but lowered its price target to $370, while Rosenblatt kept a Neutral rating and $303 target. The debate centers on Duo demand, supply constraints, valuation and the durability of the upgrade cycle.
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure remains the main risk. Apple raised iPhone Pro prices by $100, but memory and other component costs are rising rapidly. Management has already guided to lower gross margins, raising concerns that pricing may not fully offset higher costs. Apple margin pressure from memory costs
• Negative Sentiment: Premium valuation and competition limit upside. Apple trades near the upper end of its historical earnings multiple, while Huawei, Xiaomi and Samsung remain strong competitors in China and the foldable market.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling is a modest cautionary signal. SVP Jennifer Newstead sold approximately $456,000 of stock, reducing her direct holdings by about 4%, although she retains a substantial position.

Apple Company Profile

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.