Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Timothy D. Cook Sells 223,986 Shares

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Apple Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $225.67. The company had a trading volume of 33,924,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,400,199. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $222.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $203.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.76.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Brown Financial Advisory raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the second quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. 60.41% 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.