Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

20 Mar 2026, 22:00 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report)’s stock price traded down 1.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $249.00 and last traded at $249.94. 34,465,803 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 48,298,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.23.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

Positive Sentiment: China strength: iPhone sales in China jumped ~23% in the first nine weeks of 2026, outpacing a weak local market and supporting Apple’s revenue and unit growth prospects in a key market. Apple’s China smartphone sales jump 23%
Positive Sentiment: Product demand: Apple’s Mac had its best-ever launch week for first-time customers, signaling continued strength in Mac demand that can help hardware revenue mix. Apple Mac sees best ever launch week
Positive Sentiment: Legal win on Apple Watch: A U.S. trade tribunal preliminarily ruled redesigned Apple Watches don’t infringe Masimo patents, fending off a renewed import ban and removing a regulatory/shutdown risk for Watch shipments. Apple Watch clears key patent challenge
Positive Sentiment: AI/App Store monetization: Reporting suggests Apple made ~$900M from AI-related App Store activity last year and could top $1B soon — a recurring, high-margin revenue stream that supports services growth. Apple made $900M from AI
Neutral Sentiment: CEO outreach: Tim Cook’s China visit reinforces focus on local partnerships and regulatory navigation — positive strategically but not an immediate earnings catalyst. Tim Cook’s China visit
Neutral Sentiment: New integrations and content deals (Apple Health integrations, Apple TV sports/content deals) expand ecosystem stickiness but their near-term revenue impact is uncertain. Apple Health integrates with Perplexity Health
Negative Sentiment: Security risk: Researchers flagged the “DarkSword” iOS exploit and related spyware/ghostblade campaigns targeting crypto wallets; Apple has issued alerts and pushed patches — security scares can dent consumer confidence and spur short-term churn or support costs. DarkSword iPhone exploit threatens wallets
Negative Sentiment: Market sentiment and positioning: Some AI-driven price models are bearish for Q2 and there’s visible insider selling and mixed analyst positioning — these contribute to short-term selling pressure. AI sets Apple stock price for Q2 2026

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank set a $330.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. 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 report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $297.58.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL

Apple Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $261.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $261.86.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The iPhone maker reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $138.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Purpose Unlimited Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $41,605,000. Painted Porch Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 55,696 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,899 shares in the last quarter. Carter Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $1,577,000. Cornerstone Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $9,765,000. Finally, AMG Asset Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $1,365,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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.