Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Down 2% Following Insider Selling

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were down 2% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $169.12 and last traded at $169.28. 22,372,481 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 60,760,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.69.

Specifically, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.08.

Apple Trading Down 1.9 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $176.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 16,252.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 6,949,659 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% 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.