Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) SVP Sells $8,683,316.74 in Stock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded down $20.70 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $203.19. 103,138,666 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,995,093. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $230.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Institutional Trading of Apple

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.26.

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.