Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) COO Sells $7,950,786.93 in Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Apple Stock Down 7.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $229.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.07. The company has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Four 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.26.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Agate Pass Investment Management LLC now owns 47,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,551,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 91,378 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $20,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,653 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 64.8% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 48,710 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,820,000 after buying an additional 19,147 shares during the period. Boston Common Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.5% in the first quarter. Boston Common Asset Management LLC now owns 254,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $56,607,000 after buying an additional 6,130 shares during the period. Finally, First Citizens Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 23,982 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,327,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Apple

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.