Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Up 3.2% – Still a Buy?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares traded up 3.2% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $266.29 and last traded at $263.88. 57,946,931 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the average session volume of 54,618,629 shares. The stock had previously closed at $255.78.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is accelerating development of AI‑powered wearables (smart glasses, an AI pendant and camera‑equipped AirPods) that would extend Siri into “visual intelligence,” a narrative investors view as a new hardware/services growth vector. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts reiterated bullish views and raised targets (Wedbush maintained an Outperform and $350 target; Dan Ives highlighted large potential AI upside), giving investors confidence that Street expectations for Apple’s AI roadmap and valuation could rise. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market excitement ahead of Apple’s March 4 “special experience” event (multi‑city gatherings expected) is supporting the rally as investors anticipate new hardware and software updates that can broaden revenue streams. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Product and services expansions — Apple rolling out video podcasts and pushing Apple Pay installment options in stores (iOS 26) — reinforce the services monetization story and recurring revenue potential. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Berkshire Hathaway trimmed its Apple stake again in Q4 (continuing recent reductions), but Apple remains one of Berkshire’s largest holdings — a mixed signal that some large investors are rebalancing rather than abandoning the name. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern around delayed Siri upgrades and Apple’s relatively low AI capex vs. peers has weighed on the stock in recent weeks; unresolved Siri performance and reliance on external AI models pose execution and competitive risks. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Sector‑wide scrutiny of AI spending and regulator noise has pressured Big Tech valuations; broader market rotations and scrutiny of AI capex could cap upside if Apple’s AI roadmap slips. Read More.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $315.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $325.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.13.

Apple Stock Up 3.2%

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 9th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 9th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $52,266,468,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the first quarter worth about $17,472,482,000. PKS Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 98,917.0% during the second quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,956,620 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,106,000 after buying an additional 57,898,088 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 890.7% during the 4th quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 41,984,810 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,413,990,000 after purchasing an additional 37,746,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 20,464.8% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,069,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,553,753,000 after purchasing an additional 26,937,401 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.