Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is a positive buy, as reaffirmed by a consensus rating collated by AnalystRatingsNetwork.com.

According to the collated ratings, there were 40 analysts who gave Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) the "Buy Ratings" and there were 3 analysts who gave the company 3 "Strong Buy Ratings. The consensus rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) was "Buy" with consensus price target at $542.55 (16.08 per cent upside.)

The consensus report was taken from analysts from Morgan Stanley, Raymond James, ISI Group, Lazard Capital Markets, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Deutsche Bank, Canaccord Genuity, Oppenheimer, FBR Capital Markets, FBN Securities, Evercore Partners, Wells Fargo & Co., Cantor Fitzgerald and BMO Capital Markets among others.

In another report from NorthForkvue.com, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had traded up at 0.60 per cent during midday on Wednesday, hitting $475.12. The stock has now a trading volume of 6,283,288 shares.

Apple suffered a 52-week low of $385.10 and a 52-week high of $705.07. The stock's 50-day moving average is $482.7 and its 200-day moving average is $445. The company has a market cap of $431.6 billion and a P/E ratio of 11.78, as reported by NorthFork.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) positive "Buy" ratings can be attributed to the market's strong demand of Apple's iPhone 5s and 5c, according to some analysts.

Analyst Aaron C. Rakers and his team estimated that Apple will ship between 6 and 7 million iPhone 5s and 5c devices for the September quarter - 28.8 million iPhones total. The analysts just hope that Apple can immediately resolve the supply shortage of the iPhone 5s. By the December quarter, the team estimated an up shoot at 47.8 million for iPhone shipments.

Meanwhile, analysts at Stifel rated Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as a "Buy" at $540 per share price target.

iPhone first time launch in countries like China, Singapore and Puerto Rico also contributed to the positive "Buy" rating for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). In as much as a deal with China Mobile frustrated some investors, the 42.2 million mobile subscribers of China Unicom and China Telecom should not be dismissed. China Unicom, alone, reported that it already received more than 100,000 iPhone 5c devices during its pre-launch.

Another first time for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is its deal with NTT DoCoMo subscribers in Japan. NTT DoCoMo reported 61.8 million subscribers at the end of August.

Analysts at Piper Jaffray, meanwhile, noted that 90 per cent of 400 customers surveyed who are lining up to buy the iPhone 5s and 5c are existing customers for Apple.

"We note that given the relative maturity of the smartphone market in the U.S., it is not surprising to see that a majority of iPhone 5S/5C buyers were current iPhone users. We believe that the high level of iPhone users upgrading to the new 5S or 5C demonstrates continued high loyalty levels among iPhone users."

Analyst Brian Marshall said that "unprecedented waiting lines" is an indication of a "very positive indicator of robust demand."

"While it is likely some of this line is due to not having an early pre-order option for the 5s, we still believe it shows loyalty to the iPhone remains strong among Apple's installed base," according to Marshall.