Melius Research Initiates Coverage on Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Posted by Brian Himes on Nov 4th, 2026

Melius Research started coverage on shares of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) in a report released on Tuesday, Zacks reports. The firm set a “strong-buy” rating on the iPhone maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on AAPL. CICC Research upped their price target on Apple from $310.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $350.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $343.51.

Read Our Latest Research Report on AAPL

Apple Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of AAPL opened at $331.90 on Tuesday. Apple has a 12 month low of $243.42 and a 12 month high of $351.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $334.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $4.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $114.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $113.40 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 128.88% and a net margin of 27.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Timothy D. Cook sold 191,753 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $332.96, for a total transaction of $63,846,078.88. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 3,264,168 shares in the company, valued at $1,086,837,377.28. The trade was a 5.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 2,399 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.18, for a total value of $806,495.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,116,870.56. The trade was a 5.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 289,252 shares of company stock worth $96,301,063. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Prospect Hill Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $146,370,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $168,646,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $482,388,000. Satovsky Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $16,064,000. Finally, Gouws Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 136.9% in the 3rd quarter. Gouws Capital LLC now owns 37,504 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,490,000 after buying an additional 21,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

Positive Sentiment: Apple beat fiscal Q4 estimates, reporting revenue of $114.5 billion, up 12% year over year, and EPS of $2.10. Strong iPhone sales helped drive the result, and the active installed base reached a record 2.5 billion devices. Read More.
Positive Sentiment: The company forecast Q1 fiscal 2027 revenue above analyst consensus, while its holiday sales outlook points to continued demand. Apple has also begun a delayed trial rollout of its AI tools in China, potentially closing a gap with local competitors. Read More.
Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views are mixed: Bank of America sees a longer-term buying opportunity, while other commentary highlights Apple’s rich valuation and the risk that slowing growth leaves little room for execution setbacks. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: The key concern is Apple’s forecast for a 45%–46% gross margin in the holiday quarter, below the September quarter’s reported 47.9%. CEO John Ternus said memory prices are rising sharply; higher component costs and Siri AI expenses could erode profits even if sales remain strong. Read More.
Negative Sentiment: Investors also have concerns about slower Services growth and weaker-than-expected results in China. Because Apple trades at a premium valuation, margin pressure and signs of decelerating growth may weigh more heavily on sentiment. Read More.

About Apple

(Get Free Report)

Apple Inc designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and digital services. Its best-known products include the iPhone smartphone, Mac personal computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, AirPods and other accessories. The company also develops operating systems and applications that support its hardware ecosystem.

Apple’s services business includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Arcade, iCloud, Apple Pay and other subscription, payment and digital-content offerings.