Timothy D. Cook Sells 108,136 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Apple Trading Down 9.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $20.70 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $203.19. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 103,138,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,995,089. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.36.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.26.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apple

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.