Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $322.50 and last traded at $321.6550, with a volume of 6504702 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $315.32.

Apple News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citi raised its price target on Apple to $365 and kept a Buy rating, arguing the company can keep gaining market share and may benefit from premium iPhone pricing and Apple Intelligence upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Apple continues to show strong smartphone performance, including record Q2 market share in China and reports that it has outperformed the broader smartphone slump, which supports the case for resilient demand. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also focusing on potential future catalysts such as a possible iPhone price increase and new product cycles, including foldable iPhone plans and AI-focused chip development. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s lawsuit against OpenAI is keeping the stock in the headlines; it could protect Apple’s intellectual property and slow a competitor’s hardware push, but it also adds legal uncertainty. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Broadcom’s multiyear chip agreement was described as strategically positive for Apple’s AI silicon efforts, but it is more of a longer-term support story than a direct near-term stock mover. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: KeyBanc’s downgrade and related bearish commentary from other firms are the clearest reasons Apple stock is lower, with analysts warning that slowing iPhone upgrades and softer Services growth could limit further upside. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $250.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.11.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $4.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.07, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $301.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $275.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 1,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,226,770. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,924 shares of company stock valued at $825,546. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.