Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Price Down 2.5% After Insider Selling

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was down 2.5% on Friday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $317.86 and last traded at $319.97. 38,066,718 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 24% from the average session volume of 49,898,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $328.21.

Specifically, SVP Jennifer Newstead sold 1,439 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $317.01, for a total value of $456,177.39. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 35,790 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,345,787.90. This represents a 3.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $400.00 price target on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. KGI Securities cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, HSBC upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $260.00 to $366.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $330.61.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple is expected to unveil new iPhones, Apple Watch models and potentially its first foldable iPhone at the September 9 event. Analysts believe a successful launch could reignite iPhone growth, with Citi projecting as many as 7.3 million foldable iPhone sales despite a potential price above $2,000. Citi Foldable iPhone Sales Estimate
• Positive Sentiment: The product event represents the first major test for CEO John Ternus, a longtime hardware executive who has promised a substantial launch pipeline. Investors are looking for evidence that his product-focused strategy can support Apple’s next growth phase. Apple Product Pipeline Under John Ternus
• Neutral Sentiment: Tim Cook’s move to executive chairman provides leadership continuity, while Ternus takes over as CEO. The transition brings product expertise but also raises questions about Apple’s ability to catch up in artificial intelligence and manage its China strategy. John Ternus Becomes Apple CEO
• Negative Sentiment: Reports indicate foldable iPhone production was running at only a few hundred units per day in late August. Tight quality controls and memory shortages could limit launch supply, preventing Apple from meeting demand and reducing the device’s near-term revenue contribution. Foldable iPhone Production Constraints
• Negative Sentiment: Memory costs reportedly increased sharply, potentially forcing Apple to raise iPhone prices, accept lower margins or risk weaker demand. Investors are also questioning whether Apple’s premium valuation already reflects much of the expected product upside. Rising iPhone Memory Costs
• Negative Sentiment: Apple faces a $2.7 billion U.K. lawsuit over its app-tracking rules and a separate BASF patent lawsuit involving facial-authentication technology, adding regulatory and litigation risks. Apple U.K. App-Tracking Lawsuit

Apple Stock Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $4.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.69, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $314.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.13.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $109.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.62% and a return on equity of 135.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.57 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, August 10th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.39%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. grew its position in Apple by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Rainier Family Wealth Inc. now owns 24,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,189,000 after acquiring an additional 3,014 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.3% in the first quarter. Eaton Cambridge Inc. now owns 13,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,178,000. Summit Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 108.3% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 34,989 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,880,000 after purchasing an additional 18,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 1,151,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $292,202,000 after purchasing an additional 23,162 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.