Insider Selling: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Sells 129,963 Shares of Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Timothy Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $258.02 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $233.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 price target on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.49.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.