Apple Stock Got Bit By Sellers Thursday: What Happened?

Despite some positive developments for Apple Inc AAPL on Thursday, the stock closed the day down nearly 2.5% as investors rotated out of tech stocks. Here’s what you need to know.

What To Know: Apple saw positive analyst coverage from Wedbush and BofA on Thursday.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives reiterated Apple with an Outperform rating and maintained a price target of $275, while BofA Securities analyst Wamsi Mohan maintained Apple with a Buy rating and raised the price target from $230 to $256.

Despite the positive analyst coverage, Apple shares trended lower all morning before finding a bottom for the day in afternoon trading. Part of the move in Apple shares on Thursday appears to be due to a rotation out of tech stocks following a remarkable rally in the sector year-to-date.

The S&P 500 initially popped in premarket trading after the consumer price index fell to 3% in June, down from 3.3% in May, but tech stocks began to roll over shortly after the open, dragging the broader market lower for most of the day.

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Apple on Thursday also agreed to open up its mobile payments system to competitors, settling a four-year investigation that could have resulted in big fines for the company, according to Reuters. The European Commission said Apple’s offer would be valid for 10 years.

“From now on, competitors will be able to effectively compete with Apple Pay for mobile payments with the iPhone in shops. So consumers will have a wider range of safe and innovative mobile wallets to choose from,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager reportedly said.

It’s worth noting that the sell-off in Apple shares on Thursday could also be partly due to simple profit-taking, given that the stock is up more than 30% over the past three months and surged to all-time highs on Wednesday.

AAPL Price Action: Apple shares closed Thursday down 2.32% at $227.57, according to Benzinga Pro.

Photo: Shutterstock.

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