Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading Down 0.6% on Insider Selling

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) traded down 0.6% during trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $226.36 and last traded at $226.96. 8,885,263 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 58,285,961 shares. The stock had previously closed at $228.28.

Specifically, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price objective on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $227.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.47.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $2,370,000. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 121,033 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,041,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 49,732 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,250,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the last quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 3,528 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $822,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 56,230 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,101,000 after buying an additional 940 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.