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

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price was down 2% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $169.12 and last traded at $169.28. Approximately 22,372,481 shares traded 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 Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $182.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apple

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Family Wealth Inc. now owns 9,202 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,772,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, Kraft Davis & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kraft Davis & Associates LLC now owns 6,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

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.